Ignasi Culleré work with panels

With 30 years of experience in the pig industry, Ignasi Culleré started out in the livestock trade on a family farm working with sows, which he was already managing at the age of 22. In 2013, faced with the demands of the new animal welfare regulation, he decided to transform the farm and work on fattening, and also teamed up with the Alivac company. Then, a little more than a year ago, he began managing a finishing farm belonging to the same company in Arbeca, which in recent months has started expanding its facilities to as many as 7,200 finishing pigs, for which he has used Rotecna products. "I've always worked with Rotecna equipment. I am satisfied with their products, because they have always given me very good results.

" When did you begin to work on this fattening farm?

When I decided to transform the farm into a fattening enterprise, I joined the Alivac company from Bellpuig. From there, the agent first proposed that I should work on a breeding farm, but after some time I started thinking about managing this Arbeca fattening farm, which wasn't working out quite as expected. So it was a little over a year ago when I started working on this farm, where an expansion project had already been started, to go up from 4,150 fattening pigs to 7,200. 

How is the farm distributed? Initially the operation had 4 fattening barns, with the capacity for about 1,000 pigs each, a locker room to get changed before going into the barns and a small office. Now, with the expansion, we have built 3 more barns, two with the capacity for 1,000 pigs and one for 1,200. In all the barns we work with 14 pigs to a pens.

What Rotecna products have you installed on your farm?

In the old barns, part of the flooring was assembled with slats, and we work with different hoppers like the Grow Feeder and the Swing R3. On the new facilities, we use Rotecna plastic panels with the Fast Door Kit to divide up pens and for feeding we work with the Swing R3 Tube hopper for fattening. Specifically, we have built pens for 14 animals, and in every two pens we have installed a Swing R3 hopper for 28 pigs.

As for the new Rotecna panels, what advantages would you stress with regard to other options that are on the market? Mainly the material. The fact that they are plastic makes them very quick and easy to clean. For example, while it took us 10 hours to clean a concrete barn, we can clean the new barns with plastic panels in 6 hours. Working with these panels is an important saving in time and, therefore, also the water used to clean the pens. Also, in terms of hygiene, plastic panels are always cleaner.

You have installed the panels with the Fast Door Kit locking system; what advantages could you highlight about this new product?

The ease with which you can open and close the door with one hand. With respect to other systems that are on the market and for which you need the use of both hands, with this one you can carry material in one hand, and use the other to open the pen gate easily. You were saying that you feed pigs with the Swing R3 Tube for fattening.

What benefits does this hopper bring to fattening?

Mainly, a good animal growth rate, considering that we work with 28 animals per hopper. And in terms of handling, the hopper is very comfortable and easy to use, you have very precise feed settings.

From your experience, what benefits would you highlight about Rotecna products?

To start with, I have to say that, as well as working with the Rotecna products that are installed on this farm, I personally have always worked with Rotecna equipment on my farm. I am satisfied with these products, because they have always given me very good results."