Hog Transport in Extreme Cold: What Producers Need to Know

Feb 03, 2025

Weather Can Change Quickly – Be Prepared

As winter weather rapidly shifts across key hog-producing regions, ensuring animal welfare and transport safety is critical. With frigid temperatures expected, hog transporters must take extra precautions to prevent frostbite, stress, and even mortality in extreme conditions.

Failing to plan for sub-zero transport could lead to serious welfare concerns, impacting both pigs and operations. Checking weather conditions, road reports, and preparing trailers accordingly before departure is essential.

Fitness for Transport – Know the Guidelines

Determining which hogs are fit for transport is even more important in cold weather. The Fitness for Transport Fact Sheet outlines categories:

✅ Fit for transport without restrictions – Hogs that are healthy and able to endure the journey.
✅ Fit for transport with special provisions – Animals that require additional care, such as bedding, spacing, or ventilation adjustments.
✅ Unfit for transport – Pigs that are injured, weak, or compromised should never be transported in extreme cold.

💡 Cold Weather Protocols:
✔ Use proper trailer panels and bedding to maintain warmth.
✔ Follow Transport Quality Assurance (TQA) guidelines to reduce stress and prevent losses.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.