Industry Innovators

Technology has become a crucial element of the BettaPork production line with a near paperless system assisting digital management on all levels.

Electronic sow feeders (ESF) are the pinnacle of technological advancement at BettaPork. Every sow has an RFID tag and is identified accordingly upon entering the feeder. Each sow has a feed limit linked to her tag and upon reaching her limit for one day, the electronic feeder refuses to open regardless of the number of times she leaves and returns. The system allows complete control over feed intake and removes the possibility of dominant females bullying others away from their feed.

Once the mothers go into the state of the art farrowing accommodation their nutrition and appetite is taken care of by a state of the art feeding system that automatically adjusts as her piglets get older and require more milk. This system was developed by an Australian software company with European hardware. In Laurie Brosnan’s biased opinion, the system works best simply because a pig farmer built it.

BettaPork females are 100 per cent artificially inseminated with the reproductive side of the business operated from the family’s own AI laboratory. The Brosnans work with 11 boars to cover 1600 females striving for a uniformed line and the spread of strong genetics. In line with their commitment to animal welfare, the AI system is quicker, less stressful on females and more precise- a win-win scenario for all players.