All for healthy pigs
At Kyodo Farm, we endeavor to bring happiness to our customers by doing what we do best.
Raising happy stress-free pigs, with happy employees. To produce quality pork, there are many factors involved.
At Kyodo Farm, we aim to raise healthy pigs paying attention to every aspect starting with the water they drink.
Modern production systems at pig farms in Japan have developed their systems by implementing technology that is developed outside of Japan. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that modern farms are also an equipment Industry with the number of automated systems being utilized. These modern facilities have automated feeding and feces removal, air condition management that controls not only temperature and humidity but even the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air.
However, machines aren't perfect. You need to be able to manage them, no matter how advanced the systems may be. In reality, dealing with maintenance such as mechanical issues, leaking water pipes and clogged drains is an everyday occurrence at our pig farm.
This is why at Kyodo Farm, we have been experimenting with IoT management systems at our farm since 2017. By introducing IoT management, we hope to create more time spent on nurturing our pigs. With this technology, we are aiming to produce top Japan quality pork, raised with special attention given to water, feed, and hygiene.
What is Marumiton Pork?
Marumiton Pork is an original brand pork produced at Kyodo Farm,
located in Kawaminami Town in Miyazaki Prefecture.
Miyazaki Prefecture is located in the south of Japan and
Kawaminami Town is a town famous for livestock farming.
Marumiton Pork has also been recognized and registered as a
Miyazaki Brand Pork by the Miyazaki brand pork Promotion Council.
At the Pork Division of the Miyazaki Prefecture Produce Competition, where they assess the quality of meat, Marumiton Pork was crowned the Grand Champion in 2012, 2015 and 2016.
IoT Technology at Kyodo Farm
At Kyodo Farm, we are aiming to expand our production facilities and by adding IoT Technology
we are aiming to double our production capabilities without increasing the number of our staff.
We are also working to maintain and improve the quality of our pork while increasing our production capacity
which is something that was impossible to imagine before implementing IoT Technology.
With System Forest Inc ., we monitor our pigsty from many different angles such as water supply, feed supply, feces collection, septic tanks, temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels. We also monitor a wide range of systems including our water usage monitors, feed transporting facility, air conditioning system, pollution prevention odor controls and compost fermenter. If there are any issues with these systems, staff are notified directly on their iPhones by a group message. This has helped to maximize the speed of repairs and minimize recovery time. This type of management system was made possible by providing iPhones to most of our employees.
We are now planning to connect our automated weighing station with our feed tanks weight and stock management system, to create a growth curve which will be analyzed by an AI to determine a shipment forecast. By streamlining our production, we aim to increase the time we spend with our pigs, to create a pig farming environment that is filled with passion and love for the animals we raise.
Water - pursuing water that is good for all living things
Water is the building block for all living things, including ourselves.
Our pursuit of quality water started with this thought in mind.
The water from our well is clean water which is suitable for human consumption
Kawaminami Town in Miyazaki Prefecture where Marumiton Pork is produced is a town surrounded by the blessings of nature and the Osuzu mountain. The well that we have been using since 1968, provides more than enough water for our farm and the water itself has been determined as fit for human consumption (based on tests carried out on 8/6/2017 by the Japan Food Research Laboratories ).
We take this water and improve it even more before giving it to our pigs. Giving this water to our pigs maintains their health and creates a healthy environment. We understand that starting with quality water is a vital part of raising a living animal.
Maximizing the concentration of oxygen in our water
This is done by fusing highly concentrated oxygen with our well water.
First of all, all the nitrogen and water vapor is removed from the air using a special device(Puku puku fine). This creates an oxygen concentration of over 90%. This oxygen is then added to our well water as ultra-fine air bubbles. By doing this, we can activate useful microorganisms in the pigs’ bodies to strengthening their immune system. This makes the pigs healthy from within and in turn creates a hygienic healthy farming environment.
Creating a healthy digestive system with probiotics
We add a supplement called [ZERO-1] to our pigs drinking water which has hundreds of millions of microorganisms in it including Bacillus Subtilis Natto and lactic acid bacterium. This has become an essential item for raising pigs with healthy digestive systems which in turn is good for the environment. We can clearly notice the difference ZERO-1 makes as caretakers for the pigs through their energy levels and odor. A healthy digestive system strengthens the pigs' immune system, just as it does with humans. We strengthen the pigs' immune system by creating an active digestive system. As proof of this, we only use a minimal amount of medications and antibiotics on our pigs. We use such a small amount that we have been awarded an A rank for the amount of medication used which puts us in the top 10% of domestic farms (JASV Benchmarking).
（Harmful microorganisms + Special lactic acid bacterium）
↓
Decrease the amount of antibiotics used
The delicious flavor of Marumiton Pork
Feed - An Original blend of feed with nothing unnecessary
All feed during fattening is plant based
The ancestors of pigs are wild boars, and wild boars mainly eat microorganisms found in dirt and plant-based proteins.
We raise our pigs on a corn-based diet which contains these plant-based proteins.
We do this because we want to produce pork with lots of umami and having sweet fat is what gives pork its umami. We also want to produce pork which doesn't have the unique smell that pork can sometimes have. We believe that the feed they eat is essential for these two points. We don’t add anything unnecessary to our original blend of feed and we only make feed which we can explain every ingredient it contains. We do all of this to raise healthier Marumiton pigs.
It's our responsibility to pursue safety and peace of mind for customers
We ship our meat to market priding ourselves on food safety and peace of mind for our customers, but we believe that it's our duty as food producers to continue to pursue an even safer product for your dinner table. We have started the process of standardizing and applying for JGAP (Japan Good Agricultural Practice) and Farm HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) standards which require us to raise our pigs under strict standards in a strictly managed hygienic environment.
The difference between Marumiton Pork and regular pork in data
- There is more umami compared to regular pork because there is a higher concentration of free glutamic acids.
- The weight reduction ratio when cooking the meat is less. This means the meat shrinks less compared to regular pork when cooking.
- It retains moisture very well, creating only a small amount of drip loss. When freezing or refrigerating, it retains its umami and keeps longer compared to regular pork.
We received the following feedback from palatability tests carried out locally.
- Tender meat
- Flavorful even when cold
- Doesn't have the distinctive smell that pork can have, tastes slightly sweet
