Brazil is the largest country in South America with rich soil, high corn and soybean productivity, and the climate. Hence, the pig industry in Brazil is well-developed, and pig farming in Brazil has shown significant growth since 2004, occupying the 4th position in the world ranking after China, Russia, and America.
To make the possible growth, the pig producers in Brazil have been continually modernized, increasing productivity each year and improving the quality of the herds by utilizing feed forms from the industries and technical assistance of large national and multinational companies manufacturing industry equipment and chemicals.
Traditional Brazilian pig farms in the south are small and mid-sized pig farming systems (typically with less than 250 sows). The farmers of these farms usually employ arrangements with large agribusinesses that will provide genetics, feed, and technical services before purchasing the final products.
In some integrated pig farms, the producer generally employs the complete farrowing nursery and finishing facilities. Instead of rooms, producers use barns linked together by a system of sidewalks with low fences to guide the pigs. The finishing facilities are typically several barns and solid floors with gutters on the outside that flow to an anaerobic digester. Earthen pits are formed into channels and lined with plastic, then covered with membrane, add manure, and let the naturally high ambient temp and bacteria produce the methane. As with the finishing barns, the cooling system is a combination of natural ventilation, misters/fans, and trees. The barns are naturally vented with spray cooling systems and trees are planted on the north side of the barns to provide shade on the roof of the barn.
