The Arkell Swine Research Facility is a bio-secure facility that maintains and operates a 350-sow farrow-to-finish hog operation. Like the other agricultural research centres across the province, the facility is owned by the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario (ARIO), an agency of the Government of Ontario, and managed by the University of Guelph through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance.

It has a closed Yorkshire breeding herd. The station operates a 4,600 square metre facility divided into three sections under one roof.

Gestation Wing

• 70 per cent loose housing and 30 per cent individual housing for natural and artificial insemination

Farrowing Wing

• 6 rooms with 12 farrowing crates in each room
• 6 nursery rooms housing 2 rooms of 200, 2 rooms of 160, 2 rooms of 140, and 1 room of 420

Grow/Finishing Wing  

• 6 grower rooms, housing 100 to 120 pigs in each room
• 4 finisher rooms, housing 100 to 120 pigs in each room

Research areas and outcomes

The swine unit is the focus of an active research environment that includes genetics, nutrition, reproduction, behaviour and housing. See current research studies at the swine research facility [1].

The future Ontario Swine Research Centre at the Elora Research Station

The University of Guelph, in partnership with the Government of Ontario and the Ontario swine industry, is overseeing the construction of a new swine research centre at the Elora Research Station. The project was announced on July 2, 2019 and is expected to take three years to complete. The new swine research centre will enhance existing capacity for research, innovation, and development of new technology.

Learn more about the future Ontario Swine Research Centre [2].