Hoop Barns for Grow-Finish Swine

Swine producers in the United States who are looking for lower cost structures in which to raise pigs have increasingly turned to so-called hoop barns or hooped shelters as facilities in which to house grow-finish swine. Hoop barns have been rapidly adopted. For example, by 2001, Iowa farmers had erected more than 2,100 hoop barns for finishing pigs. Hoop barns can be used successfully to finish pigs, but producers need to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of this type of housing. To help producers and designers resolve some of the issues involved in using a hoop barn, this publication summarizes information about designing and using hoop barns. It discusses some of the management techniques that hoop barns require, and it presents economic factors that can be used to analyze design layouts and construction alternatives. The publication contains a sample budget comparing the costs of hoop barns to the costs of more traditional confinement housing.