A large-scale hog operation in Iowa will use positive pressure filtration, the same technology used by hospitals and manufacturers to avoid contamination, “to help prevent the spread of deadly viruses,” says Successful Farming. Iowa Select Farms spent $18 million on a sow farm that uses the filtration system. The farm, near Derby, in south-central Iowa, houses 6,250 sows, and is the first of four new facilities for the company as it expands to 200,000 sows.
“The most important design feature with all the farms is positive pressure filtration. It means all external air is filtered before entering the barns,” says Successful Farming. Noel Williams, chief operating officer for Iowa Select, says by filtering the air as it is drawn into the barns and by keeping air pressure inside the barns higher than it is outside, “We are doing everything we can to mitigate as much disease risk as possible.”
Each end of the sow barns has a room filled with arrays of air filters that progressively remove material from the air. Some filtersare rated to capture bacteria, others to remove contaminants. Iowa Select has previously used positive pressure filtration on boar barns, which are smaller than sow barns. Williams says that as the equipment becomes more affordable, it can be used in larger installations. Iowa Select will use it on its new sow barns and remodel existing sow farms in central Iowa for the technology.
During the bird flu epidemic, agricultural officials raised the possibility that wind carried disease-laden dust from infected poultry farms. Livestock farmers are routinely told to prevent contact between their stock and wild animals, which might carry disease or spread it through their droppings.