AI, AI, OHH!

Monday, September 22, 2025

UPDATE ON: AI IN THE PORK INDUSTRY

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming pork production, from herd health monitoring to data-driven decision-making. In this issue, we present a special two-feature series exploring how AI is driving efficiency, productivity, and innovation across the Canadian pork industry.

Roadmap For A Brave New World

By Geoff Geddes

While AI might equate with insemination on many pig farms, it’s the ‘other AI’ that is birthing a new era for ag. From next-level vision systems to high-powered sensors, artificial intelligence is turning the pork sector on its ear, and all eyes are peeled for the next big thing.

“Over the last few years, we have seen exponential growth in new AI technology on the market,” says Laurence Maignel, geneticist at the Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement (CCSI) in Ottawa.

“The goal for these emerging tools is to make them ‘plug and play,’ but for producers, it can sometimes be ‘plug and pray,’” says Maignel. “It’s all advancing so quickly that farmers can be hard-pressed to make choices on what to adopt for their business and where they’ll see the greatest return on investment.”

One of the leading benefits of AI for the pork industry is its power to analyze and apply the huge amounts of data collected on farms today.

“Our latest project, in collaboration with Prairie Swine Centre (PSC) and the Centre de développement du porc du Québec (CDPQ), looks at ways to employ AI as a decision-making tool for producers,” says Maignel. “Some producers are now using apps for data analysis, and companies are increasingly employing some form of AI in their latest technology, so it is becoming more mainstream.”

Squeal for the camera

A prime illustration of AI at work are vision systems, which use algorithms and advanced image processing techniques to process and analyze visual data. For example, a vision system tool called “smart counting” has garnered interest from Maignel and her team at CCSI.

“Using a simple camera set-up, smart counting can tally the number of pigs that pass by,” says Maignel. “With recent advances, it also predicts the weight of each pig and uses tags or tattoos to match that weight to a specific animal in the system.”

The benefits of such a system are many. Producers no longer require a scale for weighing, making the process simpler, non-invasive, more efficient and less laborious.

AI vision systems are also being employed for heat detection in gilts and sows, predicting the optimal time for insemination.

“These vision systems are ‘trained’ with thousands of good-quality pictures and videos of pigs,” says Maignel. “After a while, the technology learns to detect the anomalies by itself, which is kind of scary and interesting at the same time. Most systems were developed in research environments and will need to be tested in commercial settings before they can be adopted.”

Nothing to cough at

Enhancing barn sensors is another area of interest. In addition to a microphone that identifies health issues through coughs, there is now technology that distinguishes a specific squeal linked to tail biting.

Given the value of research in pork production, AI can play a key role in helping industry to find and interpret research results.

“We are currently working with the Prairie Swine Centre, CDPQ and Swine Innovation Porc in this area,” says Brian Sullivan, CEO at CCSI. “AI could help standardize the format of research reports and make them more accessible to producers and other stakeholders.”

Feeding innovation

Even technology that is well established in the industry, such as electronic feeders, is getting a boost from AI.

“We offer a range of high-tech feeders for grow-finish pigs and developing gilts and boars, as well as for sow farms,” says Dr. Dalton Obermier, researcher at JYGA Technologies in York, Nebraska. The company is headquartered just outside Quebec City.

By adding AI-enhanced software to their feeder systems, the company is helping farmers use feeding data more effectively while reducing their labour needs.

“If we can facilitate real-time adjustments in feed protocols and enable producers to be more proactive than reactive, they can save money and achieve greater performance with their animals,” says Obermier.

While less labour can be a good thing, so too is happier labour.

“In both the swine and dairy sectors, we see AI-driven robots operating pressure washers in barns,” says Dr. Obermier.

“It turns a 10-hour job into a one-hour job, and relieves workers of an undesirable task.”

In light of AI’s far-reaching implications for agriculture, its impact is bound to expand at a rapid pace.

“From our perspective, what we’ve seen over the past five years is AI moving from a ‘nice-to-have option’ to a necessity,” says Darrell Petras, CEO of the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) in Edmonton.

“AI is here to stay, and it’s here to reduce farm management risk, not add to it,” says Petras. “That’s especially the case for any ag tech and processing technology that involves analyzing quality. It is now possible to verify characteristics of a product against libraries with literally millions of comparative photographs. For instance, the CAAIN-supported MatrixSpec Marbling Meter project allows inspectors to use a handheld ‘gun’ to assess pork quality in real time. That’s not possible without artificial intelligence.”

Crystal ball, anyone?

If the pork sector applications of AI are intriguing today, what could tomorrow hold?

“There’s no blanket answer to that question,” says Petras. “It really depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. On the primary agriculture side, we have project partners, including the CDPQ, that are using AI to assess sow fertility and nutrition visually. Others are applying artificial intelligence to improve sow living conditions, allowing access to stricter EU and California markets.”

Then there are impacts on primary processing. For example, Manitoba-based mode40 is introducing remarkable innovation to pork and beef storage, using AI to deliver real-time environmental assessment and ensure optimal storage conditions.

“There are many new products coming out, and everyone is still dipping their toes in and seeing what will stick,” says Obermier. “We have yet to see overwhelming commercial adoption of AI systems in North America, and for good reason. The technology still needs to mature, and we haven’t had favourable pork market conditions until recently. It’s hard for producers to invest in the future that way when they are just trying to stay afloat.”

A ‘show me’ state of mind

Also, as anyone in ag can attest, producers need to see the data to back up the claims before opening their wallets for new equipment or technology.

“I believe some of the stuff we are working on regarding nutrition and precision feeding will explode in the next three to five years,” says Obermier. “With feed comprising 65 to 70 per cent of producer costs, and serving such a vital role in raising pigs, these advances could be game changers for industry.”

If feed is expense No. 1, pig health is a close second. As a result, barn systems that monitor health should also see rapid uptake.

“When a farm is in danger of a PRRS or PED outbreak, the farmer could get an alarm on his phone saying ‘the wind is in this direction, and here are your neighbour’s health numbers,’” says Obermier.

Whereas it might have taken producers two to three weeks to catch on and respond, AI will enable them to react much faster.

“This is all about innovation, and we’re limited only by the imaginations of some very creative and intelligent innovators,” says Dalton. “Of course, it’s important to remember that AI is not the be-all and end-all; it’s merely a tool. This said, it’s a very powerful tool that could open some technological doors which would otherwise have been out of reach.” BP