The history of business in America is varied, but one theme reappears over and over again. Necessity. That necessity is the mother of invention is a well-entrenched, even foundational, part of Western Culture and Society. The phrase can first be attributed to a real person when Plato wrote, “our need will be the real creator,” but this same theme can be found in oral traditions and fables for hundreds of years prior to his lifetime.
The Herring family of North Carolina demonstrated this principle with the eventual formation of Hog Slat, Inc. In 1969, Bill Herring operated a farrow-to-finish hog farm near Newton Grove, NC. The problem was, he could not find a suitable flooring option for his buildings. The current options just did not hold up. His necessity led him to develop a flooring system that worked well. So well, in fact, that neighbors were soon asking him for help to install his idea on their farms.
The secret, as far as anyone outside the Herring family is able to tell, is in the drying process of the concrete floor slats. Over the years the process has improved with new reinforcing materials and such, but at the bottom of it all is the special casting and drying process. The concrete used is so hard at mixing that it is almost impossible to work by hand. To smooth and shape the flooring modules, the company has to use high power rotoscreeds. This also produces the most consistently flat surface in the industry. Floors made using this process stand up to the use environment of hog confinement better than other products on the market today.
The Great Keokuk County area was lucky enough to welcome a new Hog Slat retail location last fall. Nationwide there are only around 100 such locations, so to be selected for a new store is actually a good sign for our local hog farming industry.
Tracy Buehneman is the store manager for the Sigourney location and Derek Crow will be heading the sales and technical departments.
I was given a tour of the facility by these two and was surprised. I have little experience in the hog confinement industry and so wondered to myself “ how much flooring could a hog confinement actually need that we have a store for it?” After a chance to take a look, I understand.
Hog Slat isn’t JUST about the flooring! Over the years the Herring family has grown from just making their original product. Now they are a mainline supplier for ALL aspects of confinement farming. And not just pork, but also poultry and other livestock needs. Walking into Hog Slat is like seeing a specialty store for any endeavor.
Tracy noted that, “We try to be the one stop shop for the pork producer. So aside from the flooring, we also have the bulk feed units, parts, watering, rodent control, gating, and much more.” Some items that non-pork and poultry producers might be interested in include items like power washing units and parts, basic electrical items, stainless steel plumbing fittings, and artificial insemination materials among other things.
Also included in the Hog Slat product line and available at our local location are climate control systems and parts, custom buildings, and feed systems.
Hog Slat (641) 622-6503
1401 SADC Avenue, Sigourney, Iowa (near the Keokuk County Expo grounds)
Open 8-5 Monday through Friday (at their Sigourney Location)
