Construction workers are expected to complete a gilt development unit at Mountain Prairie by September.

     When completed, the new facility will have the capacity to house up to 8,000 gilts as they are prepared for transfer to the breeding sow operation also located on site.

    While company officials would not disclose the cost of the expansion, building permit documents indicate it will cost at least $1 million.

    Gilts, which are young female pigs, will be moved to the new unit when about 11 weeks old. There, they will be fed and cared for until they reach 30 weeks of age or 300 pounds.

     Mountain Prairie currently has 25,000 breeding sows, which produce more than 500,000 weanling pigs annually, said Steve Campbell, production manager.

    The weanling pigs “are finished off in Iowa and then harvested by a Hormel plant,” Johnson said.

     When asked if concerns about this year’s corn production would affect local operations, Campbell explained it wouldn’t this year. “We are still feeding last year’s corn.” It is still too early to determine whether this year’s corn production will have an impact on next year’s operating plans.

    Mountain Prairie now has 115 employees and the new expansion will require five or six new positions to be filled. Applicants are already under review,  Campbell said.

     “For the first time we will be able to grown our own (replacement sows) from 11 weeks of age,” Campbell noted. That task had primarily been outsourced to a third party.

     Mountain Prairie is owned by Hormel, a giant meatpacking company. Farmer John, also a Hormel company, took over active management of Mountain Prairie in April. The move gave Hormel more direct management control over the operation, Johnson said. No one lost their jobs due to the management change, Campbell added.

    At the end of September, gilts should start moving into the new unit being built for them. Campbell could not predict when it would be at full capacity, but noted it is in the company’s bet interest to have it fully operational as quickly as possible