Dr. Brett Ramirez: Tunnel Ventilation Optimization | Ep. 55

"When managing tunnel ventilation, we need to make sure we have wind. If there's no wind, we're effectively not providing any cooling, and the big driver of that is our fans. With that comes making sure our fans are performing optimally: belts are tight, functioning, clean, cones, and shutters are on. A lot of times, shutters can get dirty over winter, and if they don't get cleaned off by the time summer rolls around and pays to keep those shutters clean because they can knock down airflow over 15%" – Dr. Brett RamirezWhat you will learnWhy do we raise pigs indoors?The most significant issues when managing tunnel ventilation;How can we fix those issues;Optimal temperature in late finishing;How do ventilation experts come up with the optimal recommendations?Meet the guest: Dr. Brett Ramirez is an assistant professor in the Animal Production Systems Engineering group within the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University. His research and extension program encompass swine and poultry production systems with a primary focus on ventilation, natural resource and energy efficiency, animal energetics, environmental control, and precision livestock farming.