--- title: Are your pigs overheating? There’s an app for that - The Hustle description: HotHog is here to help your heat-stressed hogs. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/813878361-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-hothog_20230717231026.webp --- # Are your pigs overheating? There’s an app for that ![Ben Berkley](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Ben Berkley](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/ben-berkley) Published: July 18, 2023 Updated: October 11, 2023 A little perspective next time you’re cursing the heavens as you sweat your way through another overheated summer day: At least you’re not a pig? ![pigs](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/813878361-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-hothog_20230717231026.webp?width=595&height=400&name=813878361-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-hothog_20230717231026.webp) Pigs can’t sweat, leaving them particularly vulnerable to heat stress — a rough vulnerability to have in this era of [record heat](https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/07/17/millions-suffering-under-stifling-heat-heres-where-records-could-be-broken-this-week/?sh=5e0eb12b8ed0). - It’s also a business vulnerability: The American swine industry loses ~$481m in annual revenue to heat stress in pigs. #### **Enter HotHog** A [new app](https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2023/producers-can-now-go-whole-hog-on-new-heat-stress-app-for-pigs/) designed to help caregivers keep their pigs comfortable, HotHog uses localized weather data to predict animals’ internal stress levels. As temps rise, the app prompts timely deployment of preventive cooling measures (like bonus water, fans, and misters). There are other livestock heat-checking tools on the market, but HotHog — developed by animal scientists at Agricultural Research Service, the USDA’s in-house research agency — is the first one based on data specific to a critical subset of pigs, pregnant and breeding females. - Overheated pigs face myriad health concerns, including reproductive issues, leaving pig populations threatened by climate change. HotHog takes a shot at this problem with its free app — though it’s only available in English right now. The HotHog team [told](https://www.axios.com/2023/06/23/hot-hogs-beat-the-heat-with-app) *Axios* they’re adding Spanish and Chinese translations to reach other top pig-farming markets. #### **Why does it matter?** HotHog can immediately be a boon to the [67k](https://www.porkcares.org/americas-pig-farmers/our-farms/) pig farms in the US, which are [already struggling](https://www.nationalhogfarmer.com/news/five-key-issues-us-pork-industry) to keep animals comfortable amid continued worker shortages. The industry is also crucial to the US economy — it added [$57B](https://nppc.org/) to the nation’s GDP in 2021, according to the National Pork Producers Council. Also, pigs are cute as hell and don’t deserve anything bad… unless you’re talking about [this list of badass pig names](https://pethelpful.com/farm-pets/pet-pig-names). Stay cool, all you Smokehouses and Crushers out there. Topics: [Agriculture](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/agriculture) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![Kinda gross, but kinda cool? A startup that tells synthetic fertilizers to piss off](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/2036425542-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-peeplants_20230918220827.webp) ### Kinda gross, but kinda cool? A startup that tells synthetic fertilizers to piss off - ![A summer without peaches sucks, but the Peach State has a lot more going for it](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/93167076-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-georgia_20230827235223.webp) ### A summer without peaches sucks, but the Peach State has a lot more going for it - ![Orange you glad you’re not in the orange industry right now?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1392117126-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Oranges_20230625234034.webp) ### Orange you glad you’re not in the orange industry right now? - ![It’s looking like a bull market for… the bull market](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/931915082-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2012202023Rodeo.webp) ### It’s looking like a bull market for… the bull market - ![Houseplants get pricey as our love for them grows](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/453501316-final_size-womanwithhouseplants_20230507224553.webp) ### Houseplants get pricey as our love for them grows - ![Why pull weeds when you can zap them with AI-powered lasers?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1386371261-19-News-Brief_2023-04-12T220908.995Z.webp) ### Why pull weeds when you can zap them with AI-powered lasers? - ![John Deere vs. farmers, explained](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/414897183-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-15T233322.377Z.webp) ### John Deere vs. farmers, explained - ![Why are eggs so expensive?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1119149331-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-29T001006.230Z-1024x683.webp) ### Why are eggs so expensive? - ![What the heck is happening with fertilizer?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1905979942-HS-News-Brief_2022-05-03T012858.857Z.webp) ### What the heck is happening with fertilizer? - ![3 eggcellent cash flow opportunities](https://media.hubspot.com/hubfs/Imported%20images/TheHustle+HubSpot_Lockup.svg) ### 3 eggcellent cash flow opportunities Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Ben Berkley", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/ben-berkley" }, "datePublished" : "2023-07-18T21:42:33.000Z", "headline" : "Are your pigs overheating? There’s an app for that", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/813878361-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-hothog_20230717231026.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/are-your-pigs-overheating-there-s-an-app-for-that", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Ben Berkley", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/ben-berkley" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T19:17:10+0000", "datePublished" : "2023-07-18T21:42:33+0000", "headline" : "Are your pigs overheating? There’s an app for that", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/813878361-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-hothog_20230717231026.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```