The Mechanization Of Hog Farming In The United States

Hog farming practices have varied greatly throughout history. The industry consolidation of swine farming in the United States started in North Carolina in the nineteen eighties. This industry consolidation is when farms either went big or started raising thousands of hogs, that spend their entire lives inside barns. The mechanization of swine farming started years earlier and, started a chain reaction of technological advances that spread the mass production of hogs nationwide. These technological advances and mechanization of commercial swine farms has enabled North Carolina swine farms to compete on a national level.

The history of the mechanization in the swine farming of North Carolina has gone from handheld tools to machines capable of slaughtering hogs at the push of a button. Hog farming has been an important part of North Carolina’s economy since the colonial days but, back then hogs were raised in pens outside and slaughtered with axes. Now, they …show more content…
Hog farming includes rearing, butchering, processing and the selling of swine. In nineteen ninety five, expansion allowed for an increased slaughter captivity of eight million and since nineteen seventy hog production has grown one hundred and sixty three percent. About twenty eight of North Carolina’s economy is based on hogs and those porkers account for two billion in annual revenue, but all of this would not have been possible without the trend towards fewer larger farms. For example, Warren Swine farm was founded in nineteen seventy five as a small family farm and has grown to a small, local corporation. Going big has helped this company exponentially due to their increase in efficiency and the incorporation of the farrow to feeder system. Today this little farm has over four thousand sows and three point two million in annual revenue all thanks to agricultural mechanization and contracts with corporate