“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe,” says Simon Sinek, an author and inspirational speaker on business leadership.
Farm Journal’s PORK asked five pork producers to weigh in on topics ranging from why they do what they do to the message they want lawmakers to hear. Here’s a look at what they had to say.
- Katie Brown, Morrisonville, Ill.
As a fifth-generation hog farmer raising pigs on her family’s centennial farm, Katie Brown and her husband currently serve as wean-to-finish contract growers. In addition to raising pigs, they have a row crop operation where they raise corn and soybeans. She has worked for The Maschhoffs for the past 10 years where she is the associate director of research and development.
- Debbie Craig, Goldsboro, N.C.
Holly Grove Farms is a family operation made up of three contract sow farms totaling 4,600 sows producing wean pigs, a 1,000-head goat dairy producing cheese, and 150 beef cows.
- Wade Hendricks, Elwood, Ind.
Hendricks Durocs is a purebred Duroc and Berkshire sow herd focusing on meat quality and performance traits. Selling breeding stock (boars, open gilts, or semen) to producers focusing on making a premium pork product.
- Chad Herring, Mount, Olive, N.C.
The Herring family farming operation began back in the 1930’s with tobacco and other row crops. Their hog operation began in 1965 when Chad Herring’s uncle participated in a 4-H project where he bought and raised nine feeder pigs to market weight. A few years later, a couple of sows and boars were purchased, and pig production began in earnest as a solid source of income for the Herring family. Over the next 30 years, their family farm evolved into a 500-sow farrow-to-finish operation. In 1996 due to PRRS disease pressure and other farming challenges, they decided to become contract growers. Today they are contract growers for Smithfield Hog Production with space for 15,000 nursery pigs.
- Tom Layne, Enid, Okla.
Tom Layne serves as the director of human resources for The HANOR Company, which has operations in seven states and over 650 employees, with operations from farrow to finishing.
Q. What is your why? Why are you a pork producer?
KB: I grew up in this industry and can remember from a very early age the sense of home I felt when in the farrowing house. This did not change when I got older and learned about all the professions there are out there. For a long time, I thought I wanted to be a swine veterinarian, but getting involved in a swine nutritional lab in college changed my trajectory. I pursued a master’s degree in animal science and went on to take a job in research with The Maschhoffs. Several years down the road, as my father and uncle were looking to retire, I knew I wanted to take over my family’s hog farm. My husband and I were growing our row crop farm in central Illinois and knew that purchasing the hog farm would allow us to diversify our operation and also bring stability that a swine contract provides. The real reason I’m a pork producer is only reaffirmed when we get to see our two boys jumping in to help with the pigs. Pork production is a legacy I want to continue to pass on to our children’s children.
DC: I became a pork producer first through marriage and have remained a producer because of my love for life on the farm. Livestock farming is 24/7, 365 but it has been rewarding to me and my family. When I walk by the meat counter in my local grocery store I think, “I had a hand it that!”
WH: I love the challenge of making productive livestock that yield a product for an enjoyable eating experience. Quality is my why – making the best genetic option to make the best pork products.
CH: I am a pork producer for a variety of reasons. Without question, having grown up on the family farm and around pigs from an early age, my passion for agriculture has been developing for over 40 years now. I have spent countless hours working on the farm with my father, uncle and grandfather and that time invested and memories made are a part of who I am. For the last 10 years I have taken an active role in advocating for the pork industry – both here in my home state of North Carolina as well as nationally. I have met and collaborated with many people that make the pork industry great, and it is a large part of why I am a pork producer today. Finally, being a pork producer has allowed me to raise my own family here on our farm. Watching my kids grow up on the farm and keeping the legacy of pig farming alive for a fourth generation is incredibly important to me.
TL: I had been searching for a professional experience that would provide the same sense of purpose and camaraderie as my military service. I found it not only here at HANOR, but also within this industry. At any industry event or meeting I have attended in the last 25 years, multiple people have always been there to shake your hand and introduce themselves. You will probably know someone they know who is working or has worked in swine production.
Q. If you could implement one new technology in your pork operation, what would it be and why?
KB: I would implement a better health monitoring system to allow us to proactively identify sick animals to allow us to take care of them better. With all the AI technology we have access to, I want a new technology that is affordable to the regular contract grower. If we could proactively identify what pigs have a fever, went off feed, or had excessive diarrhea, we could improve our individualized treatment system.
DC: An environmental monitoring system. I’d also like an upgrade to our current telephone dialing system for power outages.
WH: We could always use something to help us from a labor standpoint. Although it’s not necessarily new, if we could make embryo transfer and sexed semen readily available like the beef industry we could make genetic improvements at a faster rate.
CH: I am looking forward to installing environmental monitoring technology on our farm. I think being able to observe the environment in the barns in real time 24/7 will help avoid any stressful situations for the animals. I also think by monitoring the water usage in each barn, we will be able to identify sudden changes in water consumption and detect illnesses earlier to minimize losses and provide better care for the pigs.
TL: Our industry must introduce more automation, especially in potentially hazardous or labor-intensive tasks. We should take inspiration from the food service industry, which is reconsidering its labor challenges by upgrading or creating new technology and systems to reduce the need for labor.
Q. If you could get 5 minutes to speak with a legislator, what would you share with them?
KB: If I could get five minutes to speak with a legislator, I would remind them that their actions need to represent their constituents. They might not raise pigs for a living, but they can find a delicious and nutritious pork chop in their grocery store because of what my family and I do on a daily basis. I’m active in the Illinois Pork Producers Association and speak to our legislators on a regular basis. We come to them with talking points of all the current issues facing the pork industry but what I have found is that they genuinely want to know about my operation. Why are those topics important to me and my family? What issues are going to cause my family to decide if we can or cannot expand our operation. As a business owner you must make the hard decisions and the consequences don’t just affect you but also your children. Overall, in my 5 minutes I want to raise the urgency and importance of issues in pork productions to my legislator and remind them they work for us.
DC: Legislatures should know that our farms in rural North Carolina are hampered by the lack of accessible internet.
WH: We need to help them understand how much livestock producers care about the health and treatment of their animals. We need to talk about animal housing and why we do what we do in certain production methods. Educating people should always be important as people get further away from livestock production every day. This is never going to change.
CH: I recently met with Senator Ted Budd’s legislative assistant, Charlie Hobbs. Our conversation began with how important our family farm was to me and the work we have been doing at North Carolina Farm Families (where I serve as executive director) to stand up and speak out for farm families. We also discussed several things pig farmers are doing to reduce our environmental impact. More specifically, Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) projects that capture methane from manure, convert that methane to renewable natural gas and then power homes in our community. These projects result in 51% decrease in odor, a 90% decrease in methane emissions due to collection from digester and are generating enough energy to power almost 5,000 homes just from North Carolina hog farms today. We concluded our conversation with quick updates on the status of the Farm Bill and Proposition 12, which was a ballot initiative in California that set arbitrary standards on the amount of space provided to breeding sows. This is one of many ways that animal rights activists try to disrupt an industry whose top priority is animal welfare. Fortunately, I was able to bring my wife and kids along for this meeting, so Mr. Charlie Hobbs shared about his background followed by a tour of the Capitol building. These meetings between the farmer and our legislators or their assistants are incredibly important. The messaging of those meeting may change over time as different challenges present themselves, but ultimately the goal of those conversations are always regarding the sustainability of the pork industry, which in turn provides a safe, affordable and nutritious food supply for all of our families.
TL: As someone who works in Human Resources, I want legislators to understand the hard work and dedication of the people in this industry. However, there are fewer of us each year. They must take a closer look at the workforce in rural communities and recognize the need for real immigration reform that would allow workers from other countries to legally come to the U.S. and pursue their American Dream.
We will be uniting together June 3-8 for PORK Week across all of our Farm Journal platforms to elevate the important role the pork industry plays in feeding the world. Share your stories and post photos on social media using #PORKWeek to help us honor the pork industry. From “AgDay TV” to “AgriTalk” to “U.S. Farm Report” to PorkBusiness.com and everything in between, tune in and join us as we acknowledge the most noble profession there is: feeding people.
