Sawdust + IMO4 = A Pig Pen Nobody Cleans for 3 Years
Master Cho Han-kyu, interpreted by Kim Chang, Founder of Korean Natural Farming (Janong)
Spoken in Korean. Translated to English and checked line by line.
Fifteen more minutes of slides, now pigs. Cho shows the wing-curved roof, houses 2 m apart with perilla between, and the floor bed of logs, sawdust and IMO4 that lets one housewife keep 300 pigs with no cleaning for 3 years. Then free sow pens, a Chinese pen at minus 40, a fermented feed box, food scraps and pig dung turned into feed, piglets on the first nipple, and a stress-hormone slide. The session ends: 'that is love', and the rest tomorrow.
What they found
How does Cho house and feed pigs so the pen needs no cleaning and one person can run 300 head?
The last 20 minutes of Friday evening. Swine slides: a curved metal roof, two houses with a gap, a floor being laid, a barn of 300 pigs (3:03:30), a sow house, a snowy pen in China, a feed box, food scraps, pig dung beside IMO4, visitors sitting in a pen, crated sows, and a KBS stress-hormone chart (10배, 6.5배).
- Pig-house floor bed — Wood logs on the bottom, sawdust on top, Microbes (IMO4) on the sawdust; the microbes spread through it all. Done before the pigs go in. Then no cleaning and no manure removal: 'not once in 3 years'.
- Fermented feed box — Layers of feed materials (Cho names corn silage and compound feed; the interpreter puts IMO4 at the bottom), fermented, then cut down through the layers to mix and fed.
- Food-scrap and dung feed — Restaurant scraps piled and fermented with IMO4 become high-grade pig feed; sawdust in the mix lowers the salt (interpreter). Pig dung with IMO4 ferments into feed in 5 to 10 hours.
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The pig-house roof curves like a chicken's wing
Sun heats the metal roof, the hot air goes out fast and fresh air comes in.
▶ 2:58:36 From the slides
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Space houses so the front one's shade never falls on the next: about 2 m
The 2 m is the interpreter's; Cho's number wasn't heard.
▶ 2:59:22 As spoken
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Plant perilla (들깨) in the gap
The wind brushes the perilla leaves on its way in; Cho ties it to omega-3 and very fresh air.
▶ 3:00:08 As spoken
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Floor bed: logs, then sawdust, then IMO4
Microbes spread through the whole bed.
▶ 3:01:19 From the slides
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Take the swine course before you start; Joe McGinn, Steve and Drake can guide you
Cho calls them CGNF researchers.
▶ 3:02:04 As spoken
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One housewife keeps 300 pigs alone
Fed once a day, no cleaning, no manure removal, not once in 3 years.
▶ 3:03:26 From the slides
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Sows run free in a pen with sun on one side and shade on the other
They choose where to lie. 'A completely free-range pig house.'
▶ 3:06:33 From the slides
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At minus 40 °C in China the pigs sleep comfortably on the fermenting floor
Sawdust with microbes ferments and gives heat; steam rises when they dig. Cool in summer, warm in winter.
▶ 3:07:31 From the slides
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Layer the feed, ferment, cut down through it to mix
The whole system can be seen at farms in Muju, North Jeolla Province.
▶ 3:09:45 From the slides
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Restaurant scraps fermented with IMO4 become high-grade pig feed
Cho suggests it for Hong Kong's apartment food waste.
▶ 3:10:54 As spoken
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Pig dung mixed with IMO4 ferments into pig feed in 5 to 10 hours
Slide: IMO4 on one side, dark dung on the other.
▶ 3:11:50 From the slides
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Pens clean enough to sit in: no smell, no complaints from neighbours
A visiting professor sat on the pen floor with the pigs.
▶ 3:12:25 From the slides
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Put the first-born, weakest piglet on the first nipple
Each piglet keeps its own nipple and never changes (interpreter).
▶ 3:15:01 As spoken
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Crated sows grow huge and weak and crush their piglets
No room to move, no muscle.
▶ 3:16:37 As spoken
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Stress-response hormone in NF pigs: 10, 6.5 and 7 times conventional
Slide panels show 10배 and 6.5배; the third is hidden by the interpreter. NF pigs come to the owner when he steps in.
▶ 3:17:18 From the slides
- The Korean pass breaks down after about 3:13:00, so Cho's own words for the last five minutes (piglets, crated sows, stress hormone) are mostly lost; only the interpreter's English is kept there.
- 'Not once in 3 years' is Cho's figure here; in Hawaiʻi in 2016 he said seven years, and his book says the bed comes out only for field use.
- The stress-hormone numbers come from a TV documentary slide; method not shown.
- Cho says the pigs on the fermenting floor don't get sick; no health data were shown.
- Space pig houses so they don't shade each other, and plant perilla in the gap.
- Lay logs, then sawdust, then IMO4 before the pigs go in; the bed assists the pigs and saves cleaning.
- Feed once a day and let the floor do the work.
- Ferment food scraps with IMO4 for pig feed; add sawdust to cut the salt.
- Take the swine course, or ask someone who has, before you start.
Next to Master Cho's teaching
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Agrees
One housewife, 300 pigs, fed once a day, no cleaning Same claim in his 2017 Korea advanced course: one housewife can manage 300 pigs because they're fed once a day and the pen isn't cleaned.
2017/Advanced w: Cho/advanced fruit/IMG_3303 @ 0:59:54
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Agrees
Pig houses 2 m apart, perilla between Same shade rule and perilla in the gap in his 2017 Korea course; in 2018 he said at least 3 m.
2017/Advanced w: Cho/advanced fruit/IMG_3303 @ 0:53:36
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Differs
No manure removal: here, not once in 3 years His book says the bed needs no cleaning and is taken out only for field use. In the 2016 Hawaiʻi seminar the figure was seven years, not three.
Cho, Janong Natural Farming (2003), p. 194
“The husband mustn't take the money; he has to give it all to the wife.”
▶ 3:04:56
“When the owner goes in, they're glad to see him. That's love.”
▶ 3:18:11
“They are doing microorganism sauna.”
▶ 3:08:40
In this talk
- 2:58:22Pig house: wing-curved roof, 2 m gaps, perilla
- 3:01:19The floor bed, and the swine course
- 3:03:26300 pigs, one housewife, no cleaning for 3 years
- 3:06:27Free sow pens; minus 40 in China
- 3:09:29Feed box, food scraps and pig dung as feed
- 3:12:19Clean pens, first nipples, crushed piglets
- 3:17:17Stress hormone in pigs: that is love
Transcript
English translation, checked against the Korean as spoken.
2:58:23 So this is the barn roof. This is the swine, uh, pig pen. So you can see the roundness. The roof slopes like this — it's the same as the curve of a chicken's wing. That form is like a bird's or chicken's wing, like that roundness. They are the same as the airplane wing. So when the sun heats [the roof], the air heats up, gets light and goes out fast…
그래서 이것이 축사의 지붕이야. 경사가 이렇게 되는 게, 이것이 닭 날개의 경사하고 똑같은 거예요. 그래서 햇볕이 [지붕을] 뜨겁게 하면, 공기가 뜨거워지니까 가벼워져서 빨리 빠져나가고…
2:59:10 Because like I said before, when the sun hits the roof, because we have a metal roof, the hot air goes out very fast and then the fresh air comes in. So what this means is: the front house and the back house need a gap between them. So, those swine pens are next to each other, but they need to have enough space, so the The front house's shade must not fall on the house behind. other pen's shadow does not reach the other pen. So the front house and the back house — the gap between them…
그래서 이것은 뭐냐 그러면, 앞의 계사하고 뒤의 계사하고 간격이 떠야지. 앞의 계사 그늘이 뒤의 계사에 영향을 주면 안 된다는 거예요. 그래서 앞 계사, 뒤 계사, 그 간격이…
3:00:00 So that space in between the two pens, the length should be about two meters. And in this space — egoma, perilla (deulkkae) On that space, you should plant the wild sesame seeds. When the wind comes in, it brushes past the perilla leaves on its way in. So when the wind blows, the wind touches the wild sesame seed leaves and then goes into the pig pen. And omega-3… for [the pigs], the wind that comes in here becomes very fresh air.
그리고 이 공간에는 에고마, 들깨 바람이 들어갈 때 들깨의 잎을 스치고 들어가잖아요. 그리고 오메가3를… [돼지들]에게는 이 안에 들어가는 바람이 아주 신선한 바람이 되는 거예요.
3:00:57 Because the wild sesame seed has omega-3. So you can have a very fresh air. So when you lay out the barns, you lay them out like this. So when you build a swine building, try to build this way. Next. This is making the pig-house floor before you put the pigs in. Before you put the swine in the swine pen, you need to prepare floor. So, first you need to put a log, a wood log, at the bottom and then put sawdust. So you lay wood like this at the bottom, [sawdust] — bring that and cover it on top. Put [IMO] on there and it goes like this: [microbes] spread through all of it.
그래서 축사를 배치할 때 이렇게 배치하는 겁니다. 이것이 돼지를 넣기 전에 돈사 바닥을 만드는 것입니다. 그래서 이런 나무를 갖다 밑에다 놓고 [톱밥], 그걸 갖다가 위에다 덮어. 거기다 [토착미생물을] 치면 이렇게 전부 다 [미생물이] 번식하는 거예요.
3:01:54 And then on top of the sawdust you put some IMO4, and then there's microorganism starting to grow. If you want to do swine business, when I give swine advanced class, come to Korea and take this course. So if you're thinking of raising pigs, attend the swine specialty course once, and then start. That's best. You don't even have to come to Korea — Joe McGinn and Steve [surname unclear] took [the swine course]. Or you can consult with Joe McGinn and Steve.
그래서 여러분들이 만약에 돼지를 기른다고 생각하면 한번 돼지 전문과정에 참석을 해가지고 시작하는 게 좋다고. 한국까지 오지 않아도 조 맥긴하고 스티브 [성 불명확]이 [돼지 과정]을 받았으니까
3:02:42 They did this advanced swine class in Korea, so you don't have to come to Korea. Just consult with them, and they will help you. So now Drake, or Joe McGinn, or Steve [surname unclear] — CGNF So actually, Joe and Steve and Drake became CGNF researchers. So they're qualified to guide you. So they have ability to teach you. There are 300 pigs here.
그래서 지금 드레이크나 조 맥긴이나 스티브 [성 불명확], CGNF 그러니까 여러분들을 위해 지도할 수 있는 자격을 갖고 있는 거예요. 이게 300마리의 돼지가 있습니다.
3:03:28 There's 300 pigs in there. And here a housewife, while still looking after her household, handles 300 pigs on her own, no trouble. So there was one housewife who takes care of their household; also they can take care of 300 pigs. Why? Because the pigs are fed only once a day. The reason is we only feed our pig once a day. And no cleaning. Also, we don't clean their pen. No removing manure, no taking out dung. Also, we don't remove their waste. How long do you go without taking out the dung? Not once in 3 years. You don't have to remove their waste about three years.
그런데 이것은 가정주부가 가정의 일을 돌보면서도 300마리 [양돈]을 혼자서 충분히 하는 거예요. 왜 그러냐 그러면 돼지 사료를 하루에 한 번밖에 안 줘. 또 청소를 안 해. 분뇨, 똥 제거를 안 해. 똥 제거는 얼마만큼 안 하냐 그러면 3년 동안 한 번도 안 해.
3:04:18 That's why it takes so little labor. That's why you have very little labor. Feed once a day, no cleaning, no shoveling out dung — so a housewife on her own So you don't have to do lots of work, just feed once a day, you don't have to clean it, you don't have to remove it. can raise 300 head, no trouble. So that's why the one housewife can take care of 300. So the [money you make] raising them like that… the husband mustn't take it; he has to give it all to the wife. So, when you make money in this system,
그렇기 때문에 일손이 안 들어가는 거야. 사료 하루 한 번 주고, 청소 없고, 똥 쳐내지 않으니까 가정주부가 혼자 300마리 길러도 충분하다는 거예요. 그러면 그렇게 길러서 [돈을 버는 걸]… 남편이 가져가지 말고 아내에게 다 줘야 돼.
3:05:05 because a wife taking care of the pigs, the money comes. With this system, the husband shouldn't touch that money, just give all to the wife. Because when there's money in mom's pocket, on that dinner table there are more side dishes. So when wife has some money in their pocket, your food table is going to have always good food on your table. And the home becomes peaceful. Then you will have a peaceful life. Husbands, you be good too.
그래서 엄마 주머니에 돈이 들어 있으면, 그 밥상에 반찬이 많아지는 거예요. 그러고 가정이 평화스러워지는 거예요. 남편도 잘해.
3:05:50 So husband, be good to your wife. And if you want tasty side dishes, don't fight with your wife. If you want to eat delicious food, do not fight. Because if you fight, mom gets angry, poison comes out, and the side dishes taste bad. So if you argue with your wife, when she makes food, from her mouth, the poison comes out, so the food tastes terrible. There are pregnant pigs over there. This is the pregnant-sow house. So the sun falls this way, [the shade] that way…
그리고 맛있는 반찬을 먹으려면 부부싸움 하지 마. 그래서 싸우면 엄마가 화가 나기 때문에 독이 나와서 반찬이 맛이 없죠. 이곳은 임신돈사입니다. 그래서 햇빛이 이쪽에 가고, [그늘이] 저쪽에 가고…
3:06:43 They're free to choose where to lie. So this is a completely free-range pig house. Because we have windows, the sun comes out and there is shade, they can stay in whatever area they like to stay. So it's just lots of freedom. It's a freedom swine pen. This is China. I cannot remember. This one now… China… [place name unclear]
숙소가 자유로워. 그래서 이것이 완전 자유 [방목]의 돈사예요. 이것이 이제… 중국… [지명 불명확]
3:07:31 This place [in China] — in winter, when the temperature drops, This place is in China in winter time, the temperature goes down minus 40 Celsius. it's minus 40 degrees. Pee — when you pee, the pee [freezes and builds up]. When you pee, your pee is frozen from bottom to come up. Yet [here] the pigs are sleeping very comfortably. It's really cold, but this pig pen, natural farming pig pen, is so comfortable, they're sleeping.
이곳은 [중국인데], 겨울에 온도가 내려가면 영하 40도입니다. 오줌, 오줌을 누면 오줌이 [얼어서 올라와]. 그런데 [여기서] 돼지가 아주 편안하게 잠을 자고 있는 거예요.
3:08:17 That's because the floor has sawdust laid down and [IMO] spread on it. The reason is we put microorganisms and the sawdust is starting to ferment, so it will provide them heat. So it's very comfortable. So they are doing microorganism sauna. So they don't get sick, no disease. Yes. It goes down to minus 40, and [there's steam rising there].
이것은 바닥에 톱밥을 깔고 [토착미생물을] 살포해 놓았기 때문에 네. 이게 영하 40도 내려가는데 [저기 김이 올라오는 거]
3:09:06 So because it's minus 40 Celsius, when pigs dig, you can see the hot steam coming out from the fermentation. So it's cool in summer and warm in winter. So our natural farming pig pen, summertime is cold, wintertime is warm. Next. This is the feed-making… That's a feed box. This is the feed box. [At the bottom?] corn [silage] goes in, and then next [compound feed] and so on, and then, what else, this and that —
그래서 여름엔 시원하고 겨울엔 따뜻합니다. 이게 사료 만드는… [밑에] 옥수수 [사일리지] 넣고, 그 다음에 이제 [배합사료] 등등이고, 그 다음에 뭐야, 이런 저런 걸
3:09:54 you put it in, ferment it, and cut down through it as you go — that makes the mix. Okay, so at the bottom they put IMO4 and then in the next layer, they used corn [silage]. And then there's another material that you have, you keep layering it, and then you cut it, and then you mix by itself, and then you feed that. So if any of you have time and come to Korea, go to Muju in North Jeolla Province and you can see all of this. If you have time one day, come to Korea, and in Jeolla-do, Muju, they have a sample.
넣어서 발효시켜 가면서 자르는 배합이 되잖아요. 그래서 여러분들 혹시 시간 있어 한국에 오면은 전라북도 무주에 가면은 이걸 다 볼 수가 있어요.
3:10:42 They're running this system. You can see all of them. So, around there, they collect whatever they can get, like restaurant [food scraps], and pile it up like this. [unclear] … you just have to [mix it]. So, collect all the waste food from the restaurant, you bring it and you pile it up and then you just take it out and feed the pig. Use it as feed for the pig. This is the swine waste turning into their feed. This is pig dung [turning] into feed.
그래서 이제 그 주변에서 구할 수 있는 식당의 [음식 찌꺼기]라든지 이런 거 전부 다 구해 가지고 이렇게 쌓아 놔. [불명확] … [섞기만] 하면 되는 거라고. 이것이 돼지똥이 사료로 [바뀌는 과정]입니다.
3:11:35 Here IMO has been [spread], This side, right side is microorganism number four and the dark side is their feces. and this is pig dung. So when those microorganisms and their feces meet together or mix, about 5 to 10 hours And when the pig dung and the [IMO] meet, after 5 to 10 hours [it becomes feed]. later, it fermented and then became a pig feed. Now, this is a university professor, and these people [sat down]…
여기 토착미생물을 [살포해] 놓고 이것은 돼지똥이야. 그런데 이것이 돼지똥하고 [토착미생물]하고 만나가지고서 5시간에서 10시간이 지나면 [사료가 돼]. 지금 이게 대학교 교수님인데, 이 사람들이 [앉아서]…
3:12:24 Here from Thailand there's a professor. Because our pig pen is so clean and smells so good, they sat down in the pig pen with the pigs. Even if you sit on the floor, there is no pig waste on your clothes. Because it's this clean — no smell, clean — the neighbors never file a complaint. Because it is so clean and no smell, from the neighbor they don't complain at all. Probably they don't know they have pigs there.
이렇게 깨끗하니까, 냄새가 안 나고 깨끗하니까 주변에서 진정이 안 들어온다고.
3:13:11 So that's the — he picked the floor material and then he took [it], and then [the] pig started picking at the floor. So the natural farming pig pen floor became a fertilizer, became pig [feed], same time. So I think in Hong Kong there are lots of apartments, probably they have lots of food waste coming out.
3:14:00 So, with the food waste, you mix IMO4 and ferment, it became a good quality pig feed. Ferment [the food scraps] with IMO4 and it all just becomes high-grade pig feed. Usually the human food has a lot of salt, but when we mix it with the sawdust, it will lower the saltiness.
[음식 찌꺼기를] 토착미생물 4번으로 발효시키면 그냥 다 돼지의 고급 사료입니다.
3:15:00 So, when pigs give birth, the first baby is the weakest one, so you have to put the first baby on the first nipple. So these piglets, once they have their own nipple, that's the only nipple they use. They don't change. So from the beginning you have to follow this lifestyle. And then they are also well trained.
3:15:49 Also you need to train them to eat with mama. That's the conventional style of a swine pen. So in the natural farming pig pen there's lots of room, not like this. Because in the conventional way, there is no place to move, they are just getting big.
3:16:36 So when they farrow they have no strength, so the piglets get [crushed]… quickly… Because they grow like that, they don't have any muscle power. After they give birth, they are weak, so they smash the babies. So the mama pig is too huge. [Unclear; transcript B's reading:] 'it isn't always so, but when the mother [?], the piglet [?]' Or sometimes they [sit on] her baby pig and kill their own baby. So when they did the stress test, in natural farming the stress-pushing-away — the stress hormone
그래서 새끼를 낳을 때 힘이 없으니까 새끼를 [깔아서]… 빨리… [불명확, B의 청취] 그래서 그렇지는 않지만 또 엄마가 [?] 되면은 아기가 [?]
3:17:42 comes out 10 times more than the conventional way. All the three tests: one is 6.5 times higher, the other one is 7 times higher. So because they are calm, they don't get stressed. They are quiet. And the pigs are [calm], so they [don't] get stressed. In the natural farming, when people step in the pen, they come close to the owner. When the owner goes in, they're glad to see him. That's love. That is love. So we're going to do this tomorrow. OK. Now, this one — tomorrow.
그리고 돼지가 [얌전]해 가지고 돼지가 스트레스 받는 일이 [없어요]. 주인이 들어가 보면 또 좋아해. 그게 사랑이야. 네. 자, 요거 내일 [한 번].
3:18:34 Thank you. Thank you. You are very kind. We love you.