Made in IOwa

Big to small Iowa manufacturers make it all

By Michael Crumb

Iowa manufacturers produce a lot of things. We see their products in our farm fields and in our stores. We see their products in our garages and in our homes. We see their products building roads and bridges.

Many people might not even think about or realize they are built here.

To share just some of what is made in Iowa, the Business Record sent out a survey earlier this year seeking feedback on what companies in Iowa make.

There was just about everything: popcorn and ice cream, farm implements and road construction equipment, doors and windows. There were soy candles, steel fabric buildings, phonetic alphabet books, gourmet dog biscuits, cultivators, voltage testers and so much more.

We picked three products to highlight in this Made in Iowa issue. They range from an innovative duck call to a smart feeding system for livestock to a new, more efficient refrigeration system used in grocery stores.

Here is what we learned.

Company: PigEasy LLC, Templeton, Iowa

Contact: Katie Holtz, vice president

Product: MealMeter 2.0 smart feeder

Description: The smart feeder system for lactating sows monitors feed and water consumption in real time. It alerts farm workers via a mobile app of intake dips or outages so they can quickly identify sows with issues. This dramatically improves work efficiency and animal husbandry.

How did the idea for the smart feeder begin?

Long before the “smart” part of the feeder was developed, we designed the feeder to improve feed intake while eliminating waste for our own farm. We are a farming family from western Iowa and own and operate a breed-to-wean sow farm. My dad, Dave, wasn’t happy with our farm’s feed consumption, so he set out to create a feeder that needs less management and plays into the sow’s intuitive behavior. He came up with the MealMeter feeding system that improves feed intake, which improves sow longevity and overall production, and we’ve sold these feeders globally ever since. A few years ago, we had some discussions about the future of labor in the swine industry and the importance of utilizing feed and water intake levels to help with animal care. We realized with the unique design of the MealMeter feeding system, we had an opportunity to add sensors to the feeder and a water meter to the water line. We updated the feeder design and found the necessary parts and products so that these sensors communicate in real time via Wi-Fi to the cloud. We then spent the last six months developing a desktop and mobile app to receive that information and created customizable alerts for situations where feed and water consumption has dropped. We added new features and enhancements as we worked through product development and will continue to do so as more customers use the feeders and provide feedback. Just like with our initial feeder design, we utilize the animal’s intuition and intelligence to make it easy for them to dispense feed and water.

How does the smart feeder help producers be more efficient and run better operations?

First and foremost, we’re using a feeder that works best. Results from a commercial research trial showed an 11.6% increase in average daily feed intake. This improved the sow’s body condition scores after weaning, and subsequent litter performance with their next litter. When a sow is sick, their intake drops first, often before there are any other signs of illness. With the feeder’s mobile app, farmers and farm workers are alerted when sows eat or drink less so they can intervene faster. Historical feed and water intake data is used during the daily assessment of each sow, giving herdsmen another clue into the health of the animal. The MealMeter takes the guesswork out of feed and water intake, giving farmers and farm workers the information and time to make accurate assessments of sow health and productivity. It’s a lower-cost electronic feeder that is easy to install and implement. 

Company: Legendary Gear, Melrose, Iowa

Contact: Dianne Lynch, owner, president.

Product: Nose Dive double reed duck call

Description: The Nose Dive double reed duck call is specifically designed and tuned to do it all — from pushing notes to the top for strong high cadence to the easy-to-control low finesse while being able to deliver the mid-full range raspy hen. Voted top calls of 2022 by Wildfowl magazine.

Why was this duck call developed? 

This call was specifically designed to fill the need of duck hunters, regardless of calling ability, to be the “one call that does it all” while being incredibly user-friendly with realistic sounds. 

How does the product enhance hunters’ experience in the field? 

We’ve been told by vast numbers of hunters, who were not necessarily accomplished callers, that Legendary Gear’s Nose Dive enabled them to attain the true cadence and rasp of the hen mallard for the first time on a call. Their success on the Nose Dive has led to an increased calling contribution from their hunting blind and has increased their participation on hunts. 

Company: Borgen Systems, Des Moines, Iowa

Contact: Arden Borgen, founder and chairman

Product: DekFRESH refrigerated display cases

What was the idea behind the development of this product?

From the company’s beginning 37 years ago, the people at Borgen Systems have listened to their customers and acted on the changing needs of the marketplace. Supermarkets complained of food drying and the complex labor-intensive difficulty of cleaning the components located under the deck of their traditional cases. This resulted in loss of product and required significant labor resources that reduced profitability. DekFRESH fixed that. Company officials said they listened to stakeholders and then invented a solution to meet their needs. Borgen engineers and designers used this feedback and collaborated to create DekFRESH technology – the only commercial refrigerated service case with a chilled floor instead of the usual exposed coils under the deck of the case. This effort resulted in a patent for DekFRESH technology.

How does this technology help stores do business better?

With DekFRESH technology, supermarkets have improved food safety and increased profitability by eliminating the need to disassemble and clean components under the deck. Since DekFRESH technology has been on the market, none of the chilled floors have failed. Borgen is so confident it has placed an industry exclusive five-year warranty on the chilled floor. This technological advantage has eliminated the need to periodically replace the exposed coils, thereby increasing profitability through reduced downtime. Improvements in food safety, increased shelf life and profitability through labor savings has resulted in repeat buyers. Buyers include supermarket chains across the country.