Assessment of pork producer educational needs for adoption of group sow housing

Abstract

Pork producers in Michigan and several other states are mandated through regulation or legislation to house gestating sows in groups. Focus groups with Michigan pork producers were completed to determine their educational needs to transition from individual housing to group sow housing. Pork producers indicated that their strategic education needs were: retrofitting existing facilities, feeding systems, employee training, new construction, genetics, and production scheduling. Regarding implementation, producers indicated that education would be needed on defining a sow group, stockperson training, medical care, and feeding and watering. Depending on the topic, producers indicated different educational media preferences for program delivery. © by Extension Journal, Inc.