Family Draws Nielands to Pursue Award-Winning Career in Pig Farming
For fifth-generation farmers Aaron and Alyce Nieland of Breda, Iowa, being named the 2019 recipients of the Pork All-American Award by the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) is not something they take lightly.
“We know many other pork producers who are just as qualified, if not more,” Alyce says. “We are just doing something we love to do. We want to express our gratitude for the support people have shown us over the years, especially our parents and AMVC Management Services. Without them we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
The Nielands were presented their award at the 2020 Iowa Pork Congress in Des Moines. The IPPA Pork All-American award was established in 1970 to honor producers younger than 40 years of age who have established themselves as community leaders and successful and dedicated businesspeople. They have also previously been presented with the Master Pork Producer designation; which they won in 2017.
Aaron and Alyce have three children under the age of 10: Aisha, Will and Ellie. Their children were a big reason why they chose to go into farming.
“We both grew up around livestock, Aaron was cattle and I was pigs,” Alyce explains. “When we started our family, we wanted our kids to be raised in that atmosphere. We wanted them to learn the love for land and animals, but also develop that sense of responsibility and work ethic that comes with raising animals.”
She believes raising pigs has allowed both her and her husband to stay working on the farm. It also allows their schedules to be more flexible when the kids have activities, she adds.
“Family is really behind it all, past and future,” Alyce says.
Alyce specializes in getting weaned pigs off to a good start and oversees the pig barns, which is a good fit with her animal science degree from Iowa State University. The Nielands are contract growers for Audubon-Manning Veterinary Clinic (AMVC), and often host veterinary students in their buildings when AMVC is providing on-farm practice for those students.
Meanwhile, Aaron oversees their expanding crop operation, which utilizes the manure from their pig barns. They also do soil sampling and follow a manure management plan developed with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. He also runs seed-related trials in their fields.
As they look toward the future of their farming operation, Alyce says, “You always hope for positive and I think we will get there. We for sure need to keep African swine fever out of the country or any other foreign animal disease, for that matter.”
Now is also the time to be telling our story, Alyce adds.
“We have such easy access to social media, we need to be advocating for the agriculture industry, especially livestock,” she says.
She runs a Facebook page called Pigs and Kids, where she shares news about the farm and promotes the swine industry. They are involved in their church, the Sac County Pork Producers and help coach Little League teams.
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