The adventurous grower and his wife Alexandra left their home country for a new start in New South Wales. His story of success is featured in the Jan/Feb 2009 edition of the Australian expert magazine Pork Journal in a commendatory article written by editor in chief Peter Bedwell: inspite of limited resources, the Selten family succeeded in doubling the capacity of their farm in just eight years. In near future, once the construction works at the last building have been completed, Egbert Selten will operate altogether eight houses with 500 sows. And, as Bedwell emphasizes, all this during a period in which many Australian pig farmers have given up the fight against drought, low returns and a market flooded by subsidized imports.

Stable, durable equipment

According to the magazine, the Selten family is not new to the business which is why they opted for familiar products when they selected the equipment for their operation. “We used Big Dutchman on our farms in Holland so I was familiar with these products and knew that they were reliable and durable” says Egbert Selten in the report. Also, he succeeded in building and furnishing the pig barns in line with his ideas and requirements: that means he was able to reconstruct the barns at reasonable investment costs and refurbish them with easy-to-operate, long-living equipment.

The computer-controlled Big Dutchman liquid feeding system Hydromix which Selten uses for his finishing barns perfectly fits his operation: “The Big Dutchman Hydromix system has one tank where the before installed system used multiple tanks which adds to the complexity and maintenance issues”, he said. “Hydromix delivers feed up to ten times a day, while sensors in the feed troughs prevent overfilling. Furthermore the system adjusts automatically to a predetermined feed curve that maintains optimum growth levels and feed efficiency.” And there is more Big Dutchman equipment: the finishing pigs are housed in “tough and long-lasting” Big Dutchman pens. For sow feeding, Selten opted for the Big Dutchman tube feeding system Dry Rapid including volume dispenser. The housing and feeding equipment is supplied by B&M Slots, a long-standing distributor for the Big Dutchman Group.