Preventing Losses from Extreme Cold Before It's Too Late

Extreme cold has posed a major threat to hog and poultry operations this winter. When problems arise with heaters, curtains, and other barn climate control equipment, the outcome can be devastating.

Jack Spreen is a turkey grower for Perdue and also manages nine hog barns in southern Indiana.

In late December, temperatures dropped from 40° to -20°F in a single night.

With the temperatures plummeting dramatically, Jack received a low temp alarm for one of his hog barns. He discovered his barn curtain fell off completely and was allowing the frigid air to pour into the barn.

Luckily, Jack was able to get the curtain hung back into place before everything froze over for the night and had any major impact on his pigs. With Jack’s old alarm system, having remote visibility into his barns was next to impossible.

“With Agri-Alert, we couldn’t manage barn temps or conditions unless we were inside the barn.” Jack couldn’t monitor his barn temperatures or adjust thresholds on his smartphone. The only way he could manage conditions was by being inside his barns.

Jack says BarnTalk has been valuable to have during both extreme circumstances and for daily barn management.

“BarnTalk has been awesome for helping us transition to managing our barns more efficiently.”

“I think BarnTalk helps a lot with biosecurity too,” he said. Before going from site to site, Jack is able to monitor his barns on his smartphone and prioritize his visits to minimize physical contact with his animals.