I have worked with a Hutterite colony in the past. All of their equipment is top notch. While we build storages out of metal, the colony build theirs with concrete. It’s just amazing the different skills the colony has. From making furniture to making their own potato diggers. And to top it off, they are very good people. Hats off to them.

I’m an ex Hutterite and I have to agree

They are closer to the fully industrial model than any family farm I am aware of.

Colonies are such an interesting mix of old and new. They live a pretty simple life in some aspects, and use the highest levels technology in others.

Grew up and have been around the colonies back when there wasn't much technology in use (late 40s and since). Travel for them sometimes required them to use horses as did some of their farm work. This was in the area near the Blackfoot Indian Reservation in Montana. Have been able to watch them move into using the new technology to their advantage. They have always had their haters. I think mostly because they do things in the most advantageous way for them. Plus, they have a plentiful supply of workers.

Zach, you keep making your channel more and more interesting with the different areas that you explore. This was truly a fantastic video with some very good explanations of what the process is for a Hog Barn. I hope that you can continue to show us more places like this - very, very interesting and educational. Thank you and Randy!

It's amazing, Randy is not just a master pipe layer he knows everything about pigs and names of all the equipment they use..... 🙃🙃

🤔🤪

🤣🤣🤣🐖🐖🐖

As someone who is in the industrial maintenance field working on equipment like this, this set up is fantastic and appears well thought out down to every detail

Loved seeing family and friends in the video! These are hard working and friendly people. They make a great job when building and have done it once again! God Bless them.

This was one of the most interesting videos I have seen for a long time. Never realized how big these colonies are.

it is absolutely mind blowing how far we have come with technology. its so much to take in but its so interesting it makes you want to learn all about it! if able, please keep us updated on this place. maybe when they are in full swing maybe we can get another video Zach??

The Colony has changed completely since I was there with family and friends in 1966. This is really totally impressive.

Yes, their ability to raise and execute as many pigs as possible has grown exponentially…

I love that they have their own little feed mill and that they don't have to ask some other feed mill for feed!! They just make it themselves!! The feed mill I worked at in Stewart Minnesota has a similar setup like that!! It's pretty cool!! Great video as always!!

I'll have to show this to my brother-in-law. He has been raising hogs for over 30 years. He has automation in his barns but nothing like this. I bet he would have enjoyed a walk thru like this. That is quite the operation it looks like.

I was thinking back to all the things that we did by hand and by observations that this system does automatically. Farm Tech in the 21 century

Not much automation there!

video is awful. how can you watch it?

@Doreen Quinn Awful? Why

@Doreen Quinn then why did you continue watching the video

That was cool!! Really enjoyed seeing how automated and refined the pig breeding process has become.

Zack and Randy should go tour the colony that’s about 20 miles southeast of Big Stone. Awesome place! Very friendly people and also a very impressive manufacturing facility that utilizes state of the art machines. Don’t forget to stop by the garden center and get some home grown produce.😊😊

Great Tour. A special thanks to the Big Stone Hutterite for the Access and Hospitality.

What an awesome facility and a lot of smart and talented people. Thanks for taking us along that was incredible

Wow...I'm 65 years old, college educated, and have never heard of a Hutterite Colony. STILL LEARNING!! Gosh...such interesting content Zach!!!

I agree. I’m 53 and never heard of them. My ancestors were mennonites. Unfortunately our family branch moved away from them probably the last 100-150 years ago I wish it was like this again. Eshleman is the name

Love the farm tours! Farms are like snowflakes in the way that no two are exactly alike which makes for ez near endless content as a farming youtuber

Awesome video Zach it was great to see how a hog farm works

I work for a security company that installed a system in some barns here in Indiana. Not a new setup like this but our system uses the alarm outputs on their system to send them alerts if the temp reaches a certain point and other things. It’s neat how these barns are setup.

Hey Zack, this is AMAZING !! Welcome to pig/hog farming 2023 - American style !! Absolutely incredible how fully automated this facility is these days !!😮

Thank you so much for sharing !!

GREAT to see Randy and Jim again, it's been a minute.

That is one heck of a system! I never knew there was so much involved and to make their own systems! They must have some pretty good staff there.

You can just tell the people at Big Stone are very talented. Thanks MPL, MF, and Mrs MF for the video. 😊🇺🇸

Thank you and randy for showing that. Hog farming sure is changing 😊

These hog farms are amazing - thanks to Big Stone Hutterite Colony for the tour !

So glad those pigs get to see the sun and feel the soft grass under there hooves. Oh wait… there’s no money in that.

@stick004 If you watch some of the other channels, the pigs prefer the climate controlled building where their body temperature is most comfortable.

You two give a good tour, and without notes, too. Amazing. What an operation! tI would be interesting to know how much ongoing maintenance that place will need with the hundreds of sensors. I helped test a delivery system in a hospital years ago with lots of sensors that directed delivery boxes to their destinations. Hardly a day went by when they all worked as designed. Maintenance costs were many times what the developer claimed it should be. I imagine they have more reliable sensors these days but they'll still have to work after the dust starts flying and the ear tags are dirty.

Great tour. Always a good video when Randy joins you.

Great video as a hog production operative always good to see new systems and technology from over the pond

Nice tour. They have really expanded since I visited them 22 years ago. At that time, we were analyzing energy use for the facility. Small world Zach. Thank you.

What an amazing setup this place is. Thanks for sharing

Thanks Zach and Becky for a great video (as usual)! I searched a lot of the comments but I didn’t see one that speaks to what I thought was some type of hint by you when you were in the truck heading out to meet Randy. Did you say you didn’t want to talk too much about the whole thing as you weren’t sure what you were getting into - Meaning you are considering some type of investment or relationship with the Colony? Or did you mean you had no idea about the tour? I’m curious because one would think they need a lot of your products (unless they do all that internally)? Either way, great post!

They should have taken you to their Garden Center so you could have purchased some homemade bread, pie and honey. Great people at Big Stone. Our company was privileged to work with them on the project. It was good to see the completed project. The video shows the care the animals get on these farms.

Thanks zack and Randy for showing us this impressive hog operation truly amazing farm operation i'am impressed. Never seen anything like that I hope there very successful.

I've watched just about every episode including your road trip out west but this one with you and Randy is hilarious!

New channel idea. You and Randy go around and explain all sorts of different ag related processes based solely on your own personal knowledge for the really complicated systems and tech make sure Trevor is there. The entertainment value would be monumental. You guys do a great job and can't wait to see more. Also record some friggin podcasts already.

That's some incredible work there doing! Pretty high tech stuff! Thanks for taking us along! Keep up the great work 👍

It is always great to see the MAXIMUS controller on a barn tour. Thank you for choosing MAXIMUS!

Thanks Zack, you always have great show and tell Video's about what is what in the Farming Industry Plus the great Video's about your Farm, Family and of course your Animals from Canada !

Totally fascinating! Thanks for the video and thanks to the Colony for the open house. Very impressive.

Awesome video thanks for taking us on the hog barn tour

Thanks Zach and Randy. This is a cool look into the tech of today and a group of people that you wouldn't think would embrace that tech. I live very close to an Amish community. There are also some Mennonites. It is amazing how intelligent they are. People think the Amish are backward because of their lifestyle but they can do more by hand and with their knowledge and common sense than most English can do with a machine. They only go to school a few months of the year and finish in 8 years, technically eighth grade. They are more intelligent than a lot of college grads. I am amazed every time I go visit a family I have known since I was a kid. It is so peaceful and quiet in the evenings after the work is done. You better be prepared to help from before sunrise until sunset when you go. That is how you visit. They don't take a day off when they have company. Be prepared to eat well though.

Very easy to Keep clean, fed, and cared for. What an incredible advantage.

There's lots of big Hutterite colonies out here in Sask and Alberta and they're some of the nicest and kindest people Ive ever met

Well they’re killing family farms and ranches in my neighbourhood. No one can compete. There’s three colonies with in 20 miles of my place all farming over 40K acres; 2k beef cows; 400 dairy; plus hogs, geese, chickens and diversified into gravel/aggregates and manufacturing. They don’t pay into AISH/CPP and all collect pogi because individually they’re all living below the poverty line. Yet they’re all running the newest iron and pickups. One Deer dealer had a colony hired to assemble new seeders because they couldn’t do it as cheap as the dealers own shop. They’re great in an emergency tho

@Heather & Fraser Daley they are really no different than the big corporate farms in that regard. A good chunk of the acres we contract are either big corporate farms or colonies. I grew up on 280 acres with 39 head of dairy. That a hobby farm now!

@Paul Thiessen oh for sure they’re similar. There is a couple of those types of farms within 60 miles and more into feedlot alley but even they have a hard time competing. The rules the corporate farms have to play by with regards to their employees are on a whole other level. I guarantee the margins are a lot tighter for a corporate farm than a colony. I’ve had a Hutterite tell me the “We’ll have that piece of land paid off in three years with EI money”. Same way a lot of the Mennonite workers collect EI for the winter and go back to Mexico for the winter, a colony will “lay off” it’s farm crew for the winter and “rehire” in the spring. Obviously this trick only works on a larger colony with more workers but MNP does a fine job helping these boys work the system. Don’t kid yourself, they’re not the quaint little religious group they’d like you to believe.

Really? Do your math.. most colonys have over 100 people.. devide the land amongst the people. It's not never much

@Reuben Hofer ok here goes the argument and I’ll “do my math” Now your last name implies your either a run away or a rebel with tech frowned on by your church. My dad and I run 350 cows on 7000 acres. There’s seven of us if you count my kids under age 10. So that’s a 1000 acres per person and fifty cows. If you only count the working adults we’re at 1750 and 87 cows. Now my nearest colony farms 40000 acres, runs 2000 beef cows on 30000 acres, milks 400 cows, has a 5000 head feedlot, 250 pigs, 1000 ewes, 500 layers, 100 geese. So at you 100 people each person farms 400 acres has 20 cows on 300 acres, milks four and feeds 50 cows, raises 2.5 pigs, 10 lambs, 5 chickens and a goose. Oh sorry I forgot about the seed cleaning plant, gravel pit, soy bean processing plant, precast concrete plant, and overhead door manufacture. So person to person they don’t have much more sure. If you take out all the other businesses they don’t pay overtime to their workers on or pension or mandatory government employee insurance. So why can’t I get my eye glasses or prescription drugs paid for by my government like them? I’m clearly earning less. Why is it I can’t get a 100 year mortgage to buy more land or upgrade a tractor or two? Why don’t they ever feel the call of patriotism and go fight for their country? Or how about we talk about the fact they have no problem screwing the old widow by being locked into rental rates that are 30 to 40 years old. If I want to rent something I’m paying $60 plus an acre or $3 a pair. I can count over ten instances where this colony alone is still at $15 and $0.75 a pair. You want to talk about math ole son, it’s going to take more than your grade nine education to come at me.

That was VERY interesting!! Thanks for the tour and guide Randy and Zack!! Good show!! I feel the need for some pork chops!!

Always a good video when the moline comes out! Love the vids❤

I MEAN WOW!!! Thank you Zack and Randy. That was an awesomw tour.

Thank you for showing us what it takes for us to have bacon or a spiral ham to purchase in the store. A lot of work and science involved in modern farming. J.Au-en

In my area Hutterite colonies are no strangers around here. There are 11 colonies all within in 20 miles of me. None are no smaller then 12 sections and as big as 30. A lot of them also run a side business from making garbage bags, to crushing expired coke products. Average hog barn runs about 650 sow farrow to finish, and they are all automated like this one.

Thanks for doing this video. Very interesting. There were 3 or 4 colonies back home around the Wawanesa Manitoba area. They used to do some custom combining around there.

Zach, Another great video, thanks for sharing. That hog facility was quite impressive. I can only imagine what that much stainless steel cost. BTW how did FBN Todd rate the newest truck over Jim and the OG Nate?

That's some pretty impressive technology, thank you for sharing that Zach and Randy

Glad to see more videos I’m always in a good mood after watching you videos ❤❤❤🎉

Me to his videos are always good

Such an awesome place thanks for showing us

That was great Zach loved it thank you for sharing and your time was awesome never miss a video Becky dose a great job of catching all the explanations thank you Becky

Awesome video of the hog barn!! Amazing the technology now days!!

Simply amazing the technology that goes into agriculture now. It’s not just some pens with hogs inside. It’s all technical stuff that has far advanced what we once used.

Thank you Zack and family! Interesting video, was great to watch 😊❤

I have to say that when I started watching the part about the pig barn it was initially unsettling thinking that the pigs were only limited to that first little cage. Thankfully I continued watching to see the whole process of the barn and the fact that they get a large space to be in for some time before having more piglets. That is a very advanced operation but also somewhat more humane than some of the set ups I've seen. Thank you for adding this type of content and showing that not all commercial operations are production lines of breeding and weaning.

Thanks for showing this, that was really interesting. In the early 80's I'd occasionally help my uncle and grandfather, both of whom worked for MoorMans feed. One of the accounts was a giant operation, I think it was for Oscar Meyer, some big name with a suitably big farm, well, farms. Aside from the automation, very similar. Heat pens, hospital pens, feed pens... Couple differences, and maybe its due to times changing etc, and the new one isn't in operation yet. We had to wash up and wear, well, more or less a hazmat looking suit and a mask before going into the area with the hogs. Not for our protection, but for the hogs. That place was really clean and serious about it staying that way. Second would be the floors, which were all metal grates. Kinda similar to a panel ceiling in how it was built. Learned a lot and appreciated the work that went into the food on our tables from everything back then.

That farrowing setup is a far cry from the POS free standing crates that we used 40 years ago. Looks like it should be a lot easier to maintain for both the animal and operators safety and health. Very interesting keep it coming.

I first subscribed when you and Randy went to Cali doing tours. I was in awe of how food was raised and harvested. Also the humor was great during those episodes. This episode was a great remembrance of that series. Not saying I don’t like the farming but for me more about food production. Y’all need to hire Brody from Larson farms to detail your semis. Golly blow them out once in a while🤦🏼‍♂️😂

This was fascinating. What good hosts you found!

Man, that fabrication shop is impressive, and that weld was perfect!

That hog farm was damn impressive! Bet those boys spent hours playing with Erector Sets as kids!!!

Holy smokes this colony is something else. Very impressive

You're not just a farmer, rancher or mechanic anymore. You have to be very tech savy to stay in the game.

I finally started buying farm raised local pork and the difference is staggering.

I really enjoyed the tour. I love when you and Randy do things together I got to meet him at con expo. great guy. I wish you guys would do America again together.

Very interesting hog barn and fab shop tour. Thanks for sharing

Wow, that is pretty high tech compared to the sow farm I work at. We are slowly incorporating the new technology into our production. I wonder how well it will hold up, pigs are hard on everything! I forget how clean a new barn looks💩. Interesting video👍🏻!!

Always like to see the Moline working, ❤the sound of old tractors!

Growing up my neighbor had a hog barn. Open shed pens full of mud and slop troughs. I'm amazed at the level of sophistication that has changed. Oh, and mama always knew when we boys had been around the hog pens. Made us change clothes outside. Wonder why?

I went through a Hutterite colony pig farrow barn setup 55 years ago. It too was state of the art back then for that era of time. It was also mostly built in there own shop, and by there own tradesman. I remember listening to the engineer/electrician that was responsible for that barn, the overall electrical was mind blowing. Every colony has everything of everything, self sufficient, with the best of the best of the best. We all could learn a thing or two from there governance.

Very interesting video should make people appreciate what goes into our food system taking care of the pigs in a safe environment.

Minny Mo to the rescue again. Enjoy your videos. Thank you and your family.

Very informative, thanks Zach and Randy for sharing this.

That whole video was very interesting! I thought the colony's new hog farm was amazing! Their technology was amazing!!!

Here in Alberta the Hutterites are the main producers of hogs. And as you see it’s very advanced very clean massive barns Very expensive. But they do a great job. It’s quite impressive. I went on tour in person to a very large farrow to finish barn. It’s cool.

I used to deliver liquid feed ingredients to Hutterite colonies in North and South Dakota and they were always spotless. And make sure you don't spill a drop.

Impressive facility! Thanks for sharing👍🇺🇸

Cool high tech hog barn and machine shop!

a lot of talented people on that colony -- great buisness as well

I love this youtube channel too much, great content to watch while eating

Hog barns have sure improved since I worked in a new one in the 70s!

I wonder if they have improved the odor issue. I also wonder what their electrical back up system looks like.

I was glad to see you put that spilled corn into the grain wagon. I bought corn that had been processed into a 18 ounce box of flakes and calculate that if I had just bought the corn it would have been $94 a bushel. That is a pretty crazy markup from the 6.89 that you get paid.

That is positively mind boggling. Raising pigs has certainly changed a lot since the 60’s .

Holy crap I can’t imagine the headaches they will have after a power washing that building between groups, my year old finisher has enough little headaches from water getting where it wasn’t supposed to! Very cool nonetheless!

very interesting and informative video. Busy getting ready for the new growing season. Hope it will be a bumper crop.

All fee money paying for that lmao

I’ve been to Big Stone colony back in the 90’s and made a delivery of grain. And also South Dakota and Montana. Some of the nicest people you will ever meet.

You're in my county now, am not too far from them but we usually visit the Clinton hutteritte colony (10 miles away) for their vegetables and meats. Great video. I wonder if you get alot of pheasants and deer around your bins after a spill?

Man that hog barn is the Cadillac of hog barns, that's impressive, thanks for sharing Zach an randy

Randy needs a channel even if he only posts shorts/clips that would be awesome

The amount of control / automation involved w that hog farm is mind blowing. The amount of capital it takes for construction, no telling

when labor is basically free, up can afford nice things

What makes you think labor is free? They just get a different form of payment than what most people are used to. Instead of wages, your meals, housing, every necessity and luxeries are taken care of. Also there's a shop full of vehicles that can be used when one is need of a vehicle. Just so you're aware, in every business that hutterites have, the labor cost gets calculated into the bottom line.

Sheldon. the county I used to farm in, North Central Montana has 13 colonies,I know how they work

@John Silvernale  well John, if you can make a comment like that then obviously you don't know how they work. I'll tell you how "some" can afford nice things. When a group of people work together for the same goal, in love and unity, then things happen.

@John Silvernale  I can see how you would come to that conclusion from the outside looking in, but there's a little more to it then that.

OK! I guess the challenge has been officially laid down. Come on Mennonites! Ya'll just got seriously outdone here. Can't wait to see what you have to beat this incredible facility. For the record. I think both of ya'll are some of the best people and farmers on the planet. But I love a good game!

This was very interesting, some very cool equipment in metal shop.

My parents and grandparents grew up in Bigstone colony. Been forever since I been there.

Very impressive place. The hog barn is so modern and then you go into a modern fab shop.

Great video. Always like to see the Moline in action, sounds like a tractor should, or at least the way I remember them.

I hope the hog feed metering system works better than Zach's strip tiller fertilizer meter system.😂 First time seeing MPL, by chance, are you guys going to bring back the "Off the Husk"? Or is the podcast KIA?

Hi Zach, really great video! Love your content. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱