The Pork Podcast: Hyatt Frobose: Modern Stockmanship in Tech-Driven Barns | Episode 55

If you ask Dr. Hyatt Frobose what he wants written on his headstone someday, it isn’t corporate titles—it’s simply "Stockman."In this candid and thought-provoking conversation, Jennifer Shike catches up with longtime friend, industry leader, and Kansas stockman Hyatt Frobose. As North America Commercial Director for Jyga Technologies (makers of Gestal smart feeding systems), Frobose has helped design, build, and renovate hundreds of sow facilities. But his journey started long before with livestock judging, NJSA leadership, and a deep-seated passion for animal husbandry.From a transformative Fulbright scholarship in Australia to helping design hundreds of sow farms, Frobose brings practical, no-nonsense insights to pork production. Shike and Frobose tackle the industry’s biggest challenges: why we must stop raising gilts like barrows, how precision feeding drives sow longevity, the reality of Prop 12 group housing, and what the U.S. can learn before free-farrowing mandates reach our shores. Plus, he opens up about a life-altering brain injury, what it taught him about family and leadership, and why modern technology must always serve one core purpose: true stockmanship.Tune in as they explore: Fixing Gilt Development and Sow Longevity: “We raise our gilts like they’re barrows, and then wonder why they exit the herd early.” Hyatt dives into precision feeding, structural development, and why setting up the next generation for parity 3+ longevity requires a total mindset shift. The Reality of Prop 12 and Group Housing: Dispelling the scientific myth that loose housing automatically hurts sow performance, breaking down the true cost of square footage vs. stalls, and navigating building decisions without guaranteed premiums. Looking Ahead: Free Farrowing & Turnaround Pens: Insights from Frobose's work on the National Pork Board Sow Housing Consortium: Why U.S. producers must generate domestic, science-based data now to stay on offense before European-style farrowing mandates land on our doorsteps. Leading by Example & Overcoming Adversity: What Jyga colleague Stéphane Clément had to say about Hyatt "pulling the buggy," and how surviving a traumatic 2021 brain injury reshaped his perspective on partnership, time management and family. Defining the Modern Stockman: Why high-tech barn automation and old-school stockmanship aren't mutually exclusive—and how managing by exception lets producers give extra care to the animals that need it most. Whether you are a commercial pork producer looking to optimize your herd’s genetic potential or an ag professional passionate about the future of livestock innovation, this episode is packed with actionable insights on technology, stockmanship and leadership.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.