During a time when the U.S. pork industry was faced with major market losses, trade obstacles and uncertainty, Mike Wenger of Grand Junction, Iowa, saw an opportunity for the next generation of his family.
Instead of cutting his losses, through hard work and sweat equity, he began investing in older facilities he could remodel and expanded the footprint of his hog and row crop farming operation.
For Mike, the reason why is simple.
“Farming has always been in my blood. I wanted to keep what grandfather started in 1949 and that dad continued,” he says. “I’ve also had my share of failures in my past. I stepped away from farming for 30 years, but I never stopped loving it. It’s good to be back.”
Roadblock after roadblock, his path to get to where he is today has been filled with detours. He worked for his dad for a while and then left for an opportunity in construction. Mike did barn remodeling, managed sow farms, picked up some building jobs and eventually found himself in a place where he could take a leap of faith to start his own business with his son Nick.
“I had a banker who believed in me, a wife who believed in me and a son who believed in me,” Mike explains. “I haven’t always made the right choices in life, so I’m trying to make up for that. I think that’s part of what drives me beyond the fact that I really enjoy what I do.”
M&N Ag Systems was officially established in 2012, though Nick will say he never remembers a day that he hasn’t worked alongside his dad. It means everything to Mike to have his son by his side.
“He’s been with me since he was a little tyke,” Mike says. “He goes just as hard as I do, if not harder now that I’m getting older. Seeing the accomplishments he has achieved and watching him grow over the years makes me proud. He dissects and figures out things better than I do.”
Nick quickly adds he wouldn’t be who he is today without his dad, who has served as a model for working hard and doing things the right way in a timely manner.
Pathway to Construction
A third-generation farmer, Mike grew up on a farrow-to-finish operation 3 miles from his grandfather, who had a cow-calf operation.
“My grandpa and I were very close,” he says. “I saw him every day. When I was 10, I owned two sows. I expanded to 10 sows when I was 14 and had 40 sows when I graduated from high school in 1985. Then, we all know what happened in the ’80s.”
It was a challenging time in his life.
“My grandpa always said to save back money as there will be tough times,” Mike says. “I should have listened to him.”
It was hard to balance farming, bad markets and raising three kids in the midst of a time when he and his parents didn’t get along. The stress led him to a dead-end road of alcohol and drugs and eventually to gambling as he tried to make up for the bad markets.
“My parents and I didn’t see eye to eye on much,” Mike admits. “It just didn’t work out. I wanted to have a relationship with them more than I wanted to argue.”
Still, the redirection into more construction jobs was beneficial. Mike took a construction class in high school and helped build a garage. Though he never had formal training, he began jumping in and helping others with jobs. He eventually got into hog building construction and started a small business with a friend for a couple years. He learned from the late Daryl Poutre, formerly at Hog Slat, and continued to find opportunities to learn.
“I ran into a particularly rough time when my wife and I were having issues, and I had a barn go down on me,” Mike recalls. “I let a guy talk me into doing something I’d never done before, and it bit me in the rear end, plain and simple. I secluded myself from people.”
One of the things that helped him during this time was a friend who needed somebody to run some pig spaces. He offered Mike a job in Harcourt, Iowa. From 2005 to 2010, Mike and his sons and nephew cared for those pigs for $6 per pig space while doing construction on the side.
Following Dad’s Lead
Around this time, Mike met his second wife, Teresa, and in his words, everything came together. Nick graduated from high school in 2009 as construction opportunities were picking up. He and his dad formed their own construction business, M&N Ag Systems.
“The main part of our business is remodeling hog confinement buildings,” Mike says. “When buildings get worn out, we go in and figure out how we can bring them back to life. We redesign pens, add new ventilation and controls, build gating feeders and implement feeding systems. We also do slat coating, blow our own insulation in roofs and ceilings, and can do turnkey from start to finish.”
In the beginning, Nick wanted to do some things his father was unsure about, like slat coating. But Mike knew if they were going to make their business work, he had to trust his son and let him try things.
“I knew I couldn’t hold a thumb over his head all the time,” he says.
Their ability to work well together is a big reason why their business is booming, Teresa explains.
“They listen to each other,” she says. “There’s a lot of give and take when it comes to what needs to be done. Mike looks to Nick for his thoughts on what needs to be done — what makes it cost-efficient and right for the customers. They give farmers the best, because they’re always looking for the best.”
They are also looking out for what’s coming next in the industry. For example, when the Wengers purchase facilities of their own to remodel, Mike says they always revamp them to have connecting hallways and showers.
“I try to make the environment user friendly for whoever’s there,” he says. “Working with livestock has so many unknowns. What’s going to hit us next? You must be ahead of the game, because challenges are coming.”
In addition to thinking ahead, they pay attention to quality.
“There are a lot of construction companies out there that like to just get it done quick and then worry about the aftermath later,” Nick says. “My dad wants to go in there, get it done right the first time, and then if we do have issues, fix it right away. I think that’s where we get our business from; we do it right first time.”
Mike thinks the work ethic he and his son share have helped build their company, but so has the livestock knowledge he brings with him.
“I’m not just a stupid installer,” Mike says he once told a potential client. “Sure, there are guys out there who just show up, do the work and leave. They don’t know how to raise a pig or how to run a building or anything.”
The Wengers think it’s important to leave work sites better than you found them. Mike credits that to his son’s leadership. Nick makes sure his team doesn’t leave a mess.
“One guy said he walked around the building and couldn’t find one screw laying on the ground,” Mike says.
Teresa admires how the father and son duo put the farmer first, are honest and willing to share opinions, and never stop pushing.
“They put their heart and soul into it,” she says. “They work to make sure everybody’s happy. They always want to know what they can do better.”
Adding Pig Spaces
That desire to constantly evolve and improve is one of the reasons why the pair decided to expand outside of construction.
“When grandpa said he was willing to let us cash farm his ground, my dad took the opportunity,” Nick says.
But it wasn’t easy, Mike admits. Financing was tough. Fortunately, the construction business was doing well enough that they could put down 25% toward building their first hog confinement and buying 5 acres from his dad. They formed Wenger Pork LLC in 2016.
Three years later, they expanded the pig operation and purchased Mike’s dad’s confinement building and the original house his grandfather owned. They started farming the family farm and purchased all of the farm’s machinery, because M&N Ag Systems was doing well at the time. For a time, Mike didn’t think that would happen.
“I made some poor decisions in my life,” he says. “This farm is something I hope I can pass on — that my son can be the fourth generation and my grandson can be the fifth generation. That’s part of the other reason why we decided to get into hogs and expand the way we did.”
When you take 30 years off from something, it takes a while to get back into the swing of things, Mike adds.
“I had a lot to prove. When I got back in, I asked a lot of questions, read a lot of magazines and did a lot of research,” he says. “I was determined to do it the right way. Farming has changed. If you don’t change, you’re going to get left behind.”
Growing his pork operation has required risk. In 2023, they had 3,750 hogs. In less than two years, they’ve grown their business and now own 23,750 hogs and consignment feed 56,250 hogs for a total of 80,000 pigs. They own and operate 44 buildings at 19 sites in central, north central and northwest Iowa.
“Without all of the good people around us, we couldn’t have expanded the way we have,” Mike says.
He’s grateful for the incredible team he works alongside and for industry advancements. One of the biggest differences between hog farming today versus 30 years ago is the technology available. Mike and Nick’s knowledge of swine barn technologies from their construction business has helped them make major decisions on where to invest in their own buildings.
Mike says remote monitoring and alarm systems like AP Connect have been a huge reason why he can do what he does today, allowing him to monitor his operations on his phone or when he is away from the facilities.
“There are many technologies to help,” he says. “Do your research. We’ve been testing AP’s Commander Fans for efficiency. Do they cost more? Yeah, but we see greater efficiency, and our ventilation environment is better. Doing research helps you know where to put your money.”
Wing It With the Wengers
Life moves at a fast pace for the Wengers. It’s no wonder their motto is “Wing it with the Wengers.” Flexibility, teamwork and a willingness to pitch in where needed have helped them build a business for the next generation.
“Everybody asks, how are you up that many pig spaces?” Mike says. “It’s taken a lot of hard work and risk. I am grateful and proud that my son, wife and I get to do this together. It’s tough to work with family.”
Living in a commingled family isn’t easy either, he says. Currently, Nick is the only one of his kids involved in the business, but he hopes they are building a foundation for more to join if they wish someday.
“It meant a lot to Teresa when Nick and his wife asked her to be a stay-at-home grandma,” Mike says. “We also needed Teresa’s help us with the books because we were expanding, and I couldn’t do it all anymore.”
The Wengers make a great team, says Stephanie Nicholson, vice president of sales for QC Supply, the AP dealer for M&N Ag Systems.
“They are in it for the long term,” she says. “A lot of modern hog facilities were built in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Many of those farmers are getting ready to get out. They don’t know if they want to reinvest into their facilities or if their kids even want to come back. Meanwhile, the Wengers are saying, ‘No, this is the future.’ They see value in the pork industry.”
Mike’s goal is to keep doing what they are doing when it comes to their construction business. As far as Wenger Pork, he has his eye on expanding a little. Whether they are watching a load of market hogs leave the barn or a completely demolished site come back to life, it’s pretty satisfying to see the finished product.
“I like to see the process from start to finish,” Nick says. “There’s something about being able to say, ‘Yeah, we did that.’”
