Eyeballing pig weights leads to costly marketing errors. When you are sorting by eye, you are guessing, and packer grids do not forgive guesswork. The SortAll Revolution 2 is an all-stainless-steel automatic pig scale that weighs every pig automatically as it moves through the barn and routes it based on real data instead of a hunch. Bierman Equipment runs this system on our own operation, so the design decisions behind it came from actual barn conditions rather than an engineering spec sheet written in an office.
The SortAll Revolution 2 Automatic Pig Scale
The SortAll Revolution 2 is built for large-pen finishing operations where manually drafting pigs by weight has become the most time-consuming and most expensive part of the daily routine. Corrosive washdown environments, high pig throughput, and the reality that something always needs attention at the worst possible moment all shaped how this system was built. It removes the guesswork entirely by weighing every pig automatically, every day, and routing barrows and gilts so they ship at the right weight, at the right time.
- Effective: Encourages consistent pig growth
- Scalable: Handles up to 1,400 head
- Durable: All stainless steel construction
- Efficient: Gathers organized, exportable data
The Revolution 2 is far more than another hog scale. It is the centerpiece of Schick Enterprises' patented SortAll system, built around three core principles: automatic, repeatable pig training; consistent access to food and water at all times; and scale utilization that is encouraged rather than forced.
How an Automatic Pig Scale Fits Into Barn Traffic
The design is simple, which is a large part of why it holds up in a working barn. Pigs need water, so the scale sits in the traffic lane between the sleeping or feeding area and the water source, meaning every pig passes through it multiple times a day as part of its normal routine. There is no herding and no drafting involved. The pig walks through, load cells capture the weight, and a pneumatic gate opens or closes to route the animal based on the thresholds you have programmed. Pigs below target marketing weight return to the feeding pen. Pigs that have reached or exceeded the threshold are held in a separate area flagged for the next load. The whole sequence happens in seconds, every time a pig crosses the scale.
Managing Group Performance With Automatic Sorting
Large-pen finishing creates a management challenge that individual-pen operations do not face at the same scale: weight variation within a group widens over time. Dominant animals monopolize feeder space, lighter pigs fall further behind, and by the time a load is pulled for market, the spread across the pen can be wide enough to trigger packer discounts on both ends of the weight window.
Automatic sorting addresses this directly by pulling lighter pigs out of the general population and routing them to a dedicated area where they can receive a growth-accelerating ration without competing against heavier penmates. Feed typically accounts for somewhere in the range of 60 to 70 percent of total hog production costs, so directing the right ration to the right pig at the right time is one of the more profitable management decisions a finishing operation can make. Because groups stay more uniform, the wide weight spreads that trigger packer discounts on both ends of the window largely go away.
Animal Identification, Scales, Gates, and Software
The system is built around four integrated components, each engineered for the demands of a commercial finishing barn:
- All-stainless-steel scale and gate construction: Resists corrosion from daily manure and intensive washdowns, so the scale holds its calibration and lasts for years.
- Browser-based software interface: Delivers real-time weight data and daily gain tracking for two pens simultaneously, viewable from any phone or tablet without a dedicated app.
- Heavy-duty pneumatic sorting gates: Cycle quickly and reliably without bottlenecking traffic, simple enough for one person to run on load days.
- RFID integration compatibility: Supports individual ear-tag tracking, matching specific animal history to automated weight data for precise herd records.
Weight data in its raw form is not very useful on its own, since the automatic weighing process picks up errors caused by pigs jostling or hesitating on the scale. Filtration algorithms clean that data so it can support reports such as real-time average daily gain, weight distribution, standard deviation, and market load planning. A population module tracks pigs started, current head per pen, deaths, culls, and total marketed, so the numbers you need for herd records are already assembled rather than pieced together after the fact.
Facility Layout Requirements for Reliable Sorting
Producers often ask whether a sorting system can be retrofitted into an existing barn footprint. It is not always a clean process, and the concern about whether it will actually work in a specific building is a fair one to raise before committing to a purchase.
The physical requirements center on establishing a controlled traffic lane. The scale needs to sit in a chute or alley where pigs move single file, with enough approach length on either side that animals can enter and exit calmly without backing up. Pen divisions need to route the gate's two exit paths to clearly defined destinations, typically a return-to-feed pen and a pre-sort holding pen. Chute width is sized to the pig population being run, and the lane configuration needs to prevent pigs from turning around mid-approach.
There is no single layout template, and working through the specifics before anything ships is part of how this gets specced correctly the first time. Bierman has helped producers integrate the Revolution 2 into a range of existing configurations, from purpose-built finishing facilities to older buildings with less-than-ideal pen geometry. As part of Bierman's feed mill and livestock equipment lineup, the Revolution 2 is typically one piece of a broader finishing barn setup rather than a standalone add-on.
Technical Specifications
| Component | Specification | Operational Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Frame Material | Heavy-gauge stainless steel | Maximum corrosion resistance and lifetime durability |
| Software | Browser-based interface | Easy remote access to granular herd weight data, no app required |
| Capacity | Up to 1,400 head; two pens' worth of data simultaneously | Streamlines management for high-throughput finishing barns |
| Maximum Gate Capacity | Market-weight hogs up to 350 lb | Covers the full range of a standard finishing operation |
SortAll Finisher Performance by Site
The following field data compares SortAll Revolution 2 finishers against conventional finishers across multiple sites, covering more than 160,000 pigs sold.
| Site | Groups Sold | Head Sold | Sort Loss/cwt | ADG | F/G | % Grade One | % Death Loss | Avg Live Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 22,210 | $0.55 | 1.74 | 2.89 | 91.0 | 4.9 | 262 |
| 2 | 6 | 25,227 | $0.35 | 1.82 | 2.80 | 95.0 | 3.3 | 266 |
| 3 | 5 | 19,650 | $0.48 | 1.72 | 2.94 | 88.0 | 8.8* | 265 |
*Site had significant health problems unrelated to the sorting system.
Conventional Finisher Performance by Site
| Site | Groups Sold | Head Sold | Sort Loss/cwt | ADG | F/G | % Grade One | % Death Loss | Avg Live Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 9 | 19,824 | $1.33 | 1.74 | 3.06 | 90.0 | 6.1 | 265 |
| 5 | 6 | 23,495 | $1.82 | 1.69 | 3.02 | 93.0 | 4.2 | 260 |
| 6 | 6 | 22,863 | $1.27 | 1.67 | 2.97 | 93.0 | 3.6 | 257 |
| 7 | 8 | 27,629 | $1.40 | 1.69 | 2.92 | 93.0 | 3.0 | 262 |
SortAll Revolution 2 vs. Conventional Finishers, Combined Totals
| Site | Groups Sold | Head Sold | Sort Loss/cwt | ADG | F/G | % Grade One | % Death Loss | Avg Live Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SortAll | 19 | 67,087 | $0.45 | 1.76 | 2.87 | 91.6 | 5.4 | 264 |
| Conventional | 29 | 93,811 | $1.46 | 1.70 | 2.99 | 92.4 | 4.1 | 261 |
When the system is deployed in a properly designed barn, the results are easier sorting, improved animal welfare, more accurate marketing, real labor savings, and better uniformity across the group.
Understanding Sort Loss and Swine Marketing Contracts
Sort loss is the financial penalty that makes eyeballing weights so costly. Packers apply it as an average discount when delivered hogs fall outside the established carcass weight range or when lot variation is too wide, and even a few off-weight animals in a load can drag down the price on the entire group. For a finishing operation running consistent volume, those discounts accumulate quickly.
The contract landscape that makes this penalty so costly took shape over roughly two decades. According to USDA's Economic Research Service, marketing contracts accounted for approximately 11 percent of hogs sold in 1993 and had climbed to about 69 percent by the mid-2000s, while spot-market transactions fell sharply over the same period. Under those contracts, packers set precise weight windows and apply formula pricing, which means the producer carries the weight-accuracy risk with no spot-market fallback to absorb a bad sort.
An automatic pig scale functions as a direct countermeasure to that risk. When the scale is routing pigs daily based on actual weight data, you know exactly which animals are approaching the target window and which ones need more time. Load decisions stop being guesswork and start being data-driven, which is what packer contracts have always demanded but manual sorting could never reliably deliver.
NRCS Cost-Share Programs for Sorting Systems
The capital cost of an automated livestock management system is a real consideration, and the payback timeline matters. One avenue producers often overlook is NRCS EQIP cost-share funding, which can offset a meaningful portion of the investment, up to 75 percent of eligible costs for practices that qualify under conservation program guidelines, with even higher rates available for producers who meet certain underserved-producer criteria.
The paperwork is not trivial, and eligibility criteria vary by practice code, but for operations that qualify, the funding can significantly shorten the payback period. If you are evaluating the Revolution 2 and want to know whether your project might qualify, that is worth working through before you finalize a budget. Bierman also carries sow housing equipment that frequently qualifies for the same conservation cost-share programs, so it is worth evaluating both together if you are planning a broader barn upgrade.
Support When Something Breaks
Bierman Equipment runs this system on our own operation, and that is not a marketing line. It is the reason our support setup works differently from a company that only sells equipment it has never operated. When something fails on our system, we feel it the same way you would, and that shapes how support calls get handled.
Parts availability is not an afterthought. The Revolution 2 is built from components we stock and can ship quickly, and the stainless steel construction cuts down on wear-related failures in the first place. Downtime in a finishing barn is not a theoretical problem. Pigs still need water, gates still need to route correctly, and a sorting system offline for several days during a critical growth phase costs you in ways that are hard to fully quantify. You can browse Bierman Equipment's complete equipment lineup to see how the Revolution 2 fits alongside the rest of a finishing barn setup.
Weight-based sorting is ultimately about taking back control over your marketing grid, your feed costs, and the hours you spend in the barn each day. Every load that ships at the right weight and every lighter pig that gets the ration it actually needs are returns that compound over a production cycle. Reach out to our team to talk through your barn layout and how NRCS cost-share might reduce your net investment.
Automatic Pig Scale Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average payback period for a SortAll Revolution 2?
Individual results vary depending on barn size and packer contract structure, but most commercial operations see the system pay for itself within about 18 months through a combination of eliminated sort loss and reduced daily labor.
How do you train pigs to use an automatic sorting scale?
Training is straightforward. We recommend a structured three to five day protocol where gates are left open so pigs acclimate to walking through the scale frame to reach water. Once they are comfortable with the passage, the pneumatic gates are activated. Pigs that have passed through the scale hundreds of times before load day are noticeably calmer during handling.
Can the browser-based software run without an active internet connection in the barn?
Yes. The scale's local controller collects and stores all weight data on site. You access the browser-based interface through a local Wi-Fi network inside the barn, so external internet connectivity is not required for daily operation.
How does the scale handle mud and manure buildup on the load cells?
The Revolution 2 uses suspended load cells with protective stainless steel shielding. That design keeps manure accumulation from affecting calibration and makes the scale easy to power-wash during turnarounds.
What is the maximum pig weight capacity for the sorting gates?
The heavy-duty stainless steel gates and scale frame are engineered to handle market-weight hogs up to 350 pounds, covering the full range of a standard finishing operation.
Can this system be integrated into existing dry-feeder setups?
Yes. While the system pairs well with wet or dry configurations, it can be adapted to most existing dry-feeder layouts by adjusting the pen gating to establish proper single-file traffic flow through the scale.
