An effect of IoT based Electronic Sow Feeder (ESF) on productivity of swine farms

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of an electronic sow feeder (ESF) on the productivity of swine farms. The ESF is a specific component of the Internet of Things (IoT)-based swine production management systems, which are prevalently used by swine farms. Though the effect of weight sorter adoption, another component of swine production management systems, have been clarified, the effect of ESF adoption has not yet been understood. To accomplish the aim of study, data from 19 swine farms were collected in Korea and a t-test was conducted. This study found that the ESF has a positive effect on decreasing the number of farrowing accidents, the mean days to re-service, and increasing the average number of farrowing accidents. Though the findings of this study are limited to the selected farms in Korea, the method of this study can be generally applied to other swine farms that use IoT-based swine production management systems. Future research will extend these results while considering productivity data and environmental data simultaneously. Examining the effects of other components of IoT-based production management systems is another possible direction to extend this study.