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Labor challenges driving some innovations in ag

One of the drivers behind technological advancements in production agriculture has been the shortage or labor.

Ed Baylor, CEO of Summit Livestock buildings says when engineers were designing the new cage-free egg facilities for Indiana-based Rose Acres,  tackling the labor issue became one of the top priorities.  “The only way to deal with that constraint is to innovate our labor and to figure out how to automate things,” he says.  “So sloped floors become critical design criteria to minimize labor.  You have a building here with nearly 400,000 birds in it that is being managed by 4 or 5 people.  It is unheard of in the industry.”

Baylor tells Brownfield the new facilities can be constructed 8 weeks faster than conventional houses – which results in about 18-million more eggs produced in the first year of production.

AUDIO: Ed Baylor, Summit Livestock