Dedicated Farm Named Most Improved GDU
posted on Friday, October 8, 2021
The commitment of everyone throughout this entire farm is second to none,” said Jeremiah, director of breeding herd supply chain. “Here we have a team that sticks to the protocols, executes them every day and is genuinely committed to getting better. You can really see their level of care every time you visit the farm.”
Congratulations to Bryce, Mark, Makayla, Destiny, Marissa, and Ryan at Wood gilt developer on winning the most improved GDU award for Q1 2021. The Wood team is being recognized not for high production numbers or for making rapid jumps up the SelectPride charts, but for their steadfast dedication and commitment through one of the toughest challenges a pork producer can face—a PRRS break.
“Many of us have worked on this farm for years and we know how setbacks like a PRRS break feels,” said Bryce. “To see the effort we’ve made in biosecurity and great animal care result in productivity improvements is a great feeling.”
Bryce, who’s been managing Wood for about three years, has developed a special culture within his farm. Dan, the farm’s supervisor, says, “Bryce is so well respected, and his crew always responds to his leadership. He sets the tone for his farm in such a positive way and has been instrumental to keeping morale high through the break.”
A dynamic bunch, the team at Wood says they get better by setting small goals every day. Battling several PRRS outbreaks, they’ve put an emphasis on “staying clean.” In the pig business, that means every biosecurity practice is done, and done well.
Devin, who completed their most recent biosecurity assessment, says they have great biosecurity performance validated through high assessment scores.
Both Devin, and their veterinarian, Lynn, said every time they visit Wood GDU the team there is engaged, excited and is ready with tons of questions. “They’re just so focused on improving and making sure they’re doing the right things for the animals. It’s always a fun experience.”
Dan says they do a great job with what they can control. “Their farm is clean, it’s always organized and the animal movements and health records are always well-documented and clear.”
Great farm management and animal care comes with training and animal husbandry experience—something the team at Wood has. “We all have experience, we work as a team and take the time to cross-train ourselves,” said Bryce. “We also talk about our goals and objectives and keep those in the forefront of our daily work.
Bryce also says they make a point to take breaks together, and openly discuss what they want their culture to be.”
Destiny, a heat check and AI specialist at Wood says the extra effort they’ve made to retrain and cross train is working. “We all see the importance of executing the animal care details the correct way every time.”
Makayla, an animal caretaker at Wood, says they’ve also worked on better communication. “We decided we’d take a 180 turn on how we talk to each other. We share more information more frequently, and really make an effort to help and support each other. Our farm is working better and we’re seeing good results because of it.”
Keep up the great work!
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