After Jaime Sanchez finished his sophomore year of high school, he quit school and found a job at a local factory. Two years later, his cousin heard about a job opportunity on a farm near Jones, Mich. He asked Sanchez to go with him to get an application and translate. Long story short, Sanchez filled out an application, too, and has been with Rolling Meadows Farms ever since.
Born in San Miguel Michoacan, Mexico, Sanchez moved to the U.S. at a young age. He had no experience working with animals but proved to be a fast learner. His curiosity and genuine interest in understanding why quickly set him apart.
“It was so different than my previous job,” he explains. “In the beginning, all I did was power wash — for months on end it seemed, but I liked working on the farm and got pretty good at it.”
Over the years, Sanchez has faithfully helped the farm achieve its goals and grow. His experience and desire to never stop learning helped him secure his current role as sow barn manager. For owner Andy White, the sixth generation to run the family farm, there’s no question Sanchez is a barn hero in his eyes.
“A barn hero is someone who cares deeply about their job and what it takes to do what we do on farms across this country,” White says. “It’s someone who takes the time to focus on the people and the animals, pays attention to details and makes sure they’re always doing the best job they can do. Jaime embodies all those things. He’s dependable, knowledgeable, respected and gets along well with others. He worked his way up from low man on the totem pole when he was 18 years old to managing our sow unit.”
To say Sanchez is a critical part of how the farm operates is an understatement, White explains. As his boss, White wants to make sure Sanchez knows he’s appreciated and respected, not just by his peers, but by him, too.
More Than a Job
Sanchez has been in a unique position, helping the farm transition from housing pigs outside to housing animals inside. One of his strengths is he understands the entire system, White says. He oversees the sow barn, but he understands how all of the segments work together to make the production system flow.
“When we bring people through the barn, they always comment on how sharp Jaime is,” White says. “He understands what he is doing in the sow barn affects everything that follows.”
Before he became the manager, Sanchez says he was always eager to learn.
“I would stick around no matter what time it was, and I would ask questions,” he says. “I learned a lot from my old managers. They never hesitated to show me how to do things, even if it wasn’t part of my job description at times.”
As a leader now, he’s the first to encourage his team to ask questions, whether it’s about pigs or understanding how something works on the farm.
“My role is to make sure everything’s working properly, that all the guys are on task, that we’re pushing out numbers and staying consistent with our production,” Sanchez explains. “We try and wean the best pigs and as many pigs as possible, the right way.”
Although the core components of what he does have remained the same, he admits the way the job is done has changed a lot over the past 20 years due to technology.
“Before, everything was manual. We used pencils and sow cards, fed with scoops, etc.,” Sanchez says. “Now, it’s a lot different and takes some of the weight off your shoulders. We can be more focused on individual pig care because we aren’t having to do as much manual labor to get the pigs fed.”
The responsibilities haven’t lessened, but the approach to the job is different now. He believes that’s one of the misconceptions many people have about careers on a pig farm.
“At a sow unit, so many pieces have to line up to help us get where we’re going, but everybody just thinks all we do is feed pigs and give them medicine,” Sanchez says. “That’s not even close. There’s a lot of care we have to do from making sure their feed is good and they’re getting plenty of water to making sure their crates work and ventilation is on target.”
For Sanchez, animal welfare drives his decisions every day. The care individual animals receive day in and day out helps the farm achieve success.
“You can’t just look at this as a farm; it’s so much more,” Sanchez says. “Being a caretaker requires compassion for animals. It’s not a ‘work for eight hours and leave’ kind of a job. It means more than just a paycheck. We have 1,500 animals in that barn, and every animal feels differently. You must pay attention to who doesn’t feel good, and then, what are you going to do about that?”
Know Your Team’s Strengths
Raising healthy animals defines success for Sanchez. He also hopes he’s creating a culture and environment that is appealing to his team and keeps them coming back to work each day.
“What makes the job easy also makes the job hard — the people,” he says.
Over the years, he’s learned a few things to help him better manage people. For example, he spends time trying to determine what each employee excels at and which areas of their job need improvement.
“I have one person who loves moving animals. I line him up to complete these jobs for us when I can because it makes him happy,” Sanchez says. “It’s hard to make everybody happy at the same time, but I try to have them do the tasks they enjoy when possible. If you can meet in the middle, everybody tends to stay on a better pace.”
His willingness to take the time to find out areas of strength and weakness makes him a better team leader, White says. He wants people to see there is always more they can do and help them keep moving forward in the industry.
“Jaime’s personality and demeanor make it easy for him to work with others,” White says. “He has a deep knowledge of his job and role on the farm, which makes it easier to train people and work with others when they need help with different tasks or roles.”
His bilingual capabilities are also an asset on the farm. White says he’s had several workers come to the farm through visa programs who have had a seamless transition thanks to Sanchez’s support and guidance.
“He’s provided a sense of comfort because they can communicate and talk very easily with Jaime,” White says. “Jaime went with me to pick them up. You could tell they were unsure about coming to a new country and leaving their family behind. When Jaime was there to visit with them, it put them at ease right away.”
The Road to Success
Life on the farm isn’t always sunshine and roses, White points out. Sanchez’s willingness to learn, adapt and change has been key to his longevity at Rolling Meadows Farms.
“We’ve worked through difficult times and challenges, but he’s always been willing to learn and make improvements. As he’s taken on new roles and began managing people, he’s still prioritized changing when needed and being willing to learn new ways to do things. He wants to get better so he can help others get better, too.”
With 15 full-time employees depending on them, Sanchez and White take their roles seriously.
“It’s not lost on me that 15 families depend on us for their livelihood,” White adds.
Maybe that’s why seeing Sanchez soar in his role at the farm has been so meaningful to him. White says watching somebody grow and develop in their own life is humbling.
“Jaime lived in a house on the farm for a long time,” White says. “He made sacrifices and saved, bought his own house and moved off the farm. It was a bittersweet thing. After all, he had worked hard toward providing that for his family. At the same time, he was not going to be right down the road anymore.”
Watching Sanchez excel in his career reminds White of the importance of stopping to reflect from time to time.
“We rarely look back at where we started and where we are now,” he says. “When I think about Jaime — wow, he’s grown and matured so much. He has an amazing family. Watching his kids flourish has been so rewarding, too.”
Of all the lessons he’s learned at Rolling Meadows Farms, Sanchez says one of the most valuable has been to learn as much as possible.
“Be humble and willing to learn. Take everything in,” he advises. “There’s always room for improvement, for learning along the way. We never have it all figured out in life.”
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