In 2016, Kyle Knauth came home to his wife and newborn son and gave her the difficult news.
“I don’t have a job.”
All of a sudden, Kyle found himself at a crossroads – find a “real job” in feed or chemical sales or bet on his family’s future in the show pig industry. He chose the latter.
If you spend any time at major stock shows, you’ve heard of the Knauth name. From the outside, it may look like a glamorous life of selling high-dollar show pigs and winning big banners. But for Kyle and Ellen, the business isn’t measured by those things. It’s measured by something far bigger.
The Origin Story of Knauth Showpigs
As junior exhibitors, Kyle and Ellen were active in the Illinois Club Pig Association. They shared very similar backgrounds as both grew up on Illinois farms where their families had corn and soybean and raised some pigs, too.
“People always ask us how we met,” Ellen says. “I really can’t remember – he’s just always been a part of my summers showing pigs since I can remember. Honestly, I thought he was a weirdo who didn’t talk to people for a long time.”
After competing on livestock judging teams and pursuing degrees at Lake Land College and the University of Illinois (at different times), Ellen finally let Kyle take her out on a date. She was in her junior year at Illinois and Kyle was working for a nearby boar stud, Prairie State Semen Supply. Long story short, the couple was married two years later.
When Kyle wasn’t helping on the family grain farm or working at Prairie State, he focused on their small show pig herd. When the boar stud closed in 2016, the young couple went “all in” and expanded their herd.
“Failure wasn’t an option,” Kyle says.
The Turning Point
The Knauth operation is unique because it hasn’t been built on chasing every new trend. Instead, it was built on a single gamble. Kyle credits the purchase of one bred female from Heimer Hampshires for the farm’s current trajectory.
“The only reason I could afford her was because she was due late,” Kyle says. “Her pigs were too young to be profitable [for that season]. But luckily, she laid down and had eight gilts. We kept all of them. I could write a book on what those gilts have done for us.”
Kyle emphasizes building from within and utilizing your own genetics with a dose of outside genetics from time to time to build a strong genetic base. Working with the sows so closely provides a keen insight into how her pigs will perform. Consistency in the show ring comes from consistency in the farrowing house.
“This allows us to have genuine faith in the feedability of our pigs,” Kyle says. “When we’re selling a pig, I know what our customers should expect when they feed that animal. If you go out every season and buy a gilt and buy semen on a boar you don’t know anything about, you’re going to struggle to offer your customers true ‘know’ about how the offspring are going to feed.”
While Kyle was concentrating on selecting the right genetics, Ellen was working at the National Swine Registry where she interacted with show pig families and breeders.
“I think we both would agree that without my time at NSR, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Ellen says. “I met a lot of people – exhibitors and their families, industry leaders and breeders – as I traveled across the country to NSR and National Junior Swine Association shows.”
True Stockmanship
With 40 farrowing stalls, Kyle says at any one time between May through July and October through December, there will be 40 sows and upwards of 400 piglets in the barn. Teaching and developing their employees to be good stockmen is integral to the operation’s success.
“I always tell our employees, ‘If you go through all 40 sows and pigs, and everything’s great and dandy, go through them again because you missed something,’” he says. “Something’s wrong all the time.”
His biggest expectation from his team is attention to detail.
“It’s everything,” Kyle says. “When you walk in a barn, you should be able to notice if it smells different or if it’s a little warmer than it should be. You should be able to notice if every pig in the barn’s running around except for one. That’s what we really try to try to teach our team and our two sons as well. What’s different from an hour ago as opposed to right now?”
He believes this mindset is the primary differentiator for success, both in the barn and beyond.
“Anybody in America can buy a sow, order semen from a boar stud, and make the best pig in America. They absolutely could,” Kyle says. “That’s what is so unique and awesome about this industry. But it’s the health management and the attention to detail that separates those who can do it at the highest level and those who can’t.”
Raising Kids Alongside Pigs
Ellen says they are teaching these same stockmanship lessons to their two sons, Kolton and Knox, on the farm. The boys are an integral part of everything they do whether they are farrowing pigs or preparing for an online pig sale.
“We are teaching them how to be better animal handlers and better stewards of their animals,” she says. “Whether it’s a dog or a pig or a bug, animals are treated with respect here. Honestly, at times they are probably treated better than humans. We want to do everything we can for the best interest of that animal.”
She is concerned that stockmanship can get lost in the competitive nature of the show ring.
“We get so caught up on in the industry of who’s showing the best animal or who is the best showman,”” Ellen says. “But if we’re not truly teaching them how to take care of that animal – and I’m not saying like how to comb their hair back in the right direction so it lays flat – but how to truly take care of that animal and raise that animal, then we’re failing.”
As a show dad now, Kyle has a greater appreciation for what families go through to reach their goals.
“This industry has evolved so much, and the day-to-day care and management has changed so much,” Kyle says. “It’s so much easier to be a breeder than it is to be a show dad. But it really has made me a better breeder to understand their challenges.”
How Can We Make the Show Pig Industry Better?
For Clay Parrish, showpig industry relations manager at the National Pork Board, the Knauth’s ability to see the bigger picture is what makes them truly successful in the show pig industry.
“They’re selfless,” Parrish says. “When you need help, Kyle and Ellen Knauth are there, no matter the question. They want to help whether you’re a novice showman, an experienced breeder, or somebody who has a question about how to make the industry better.”
Parrish worked with Ellen for several years at NSR, and continues to now through his job with the National Pork Board and her role as senior manager of producer services and education at Showpig.com.
“Ellen’s first thought is always, ‘What can we do to make this industry better? How can we work together to make sure that we leave this better than we found it?’ She volunteers, wants to help and thinks bigger than the industry of show pigs. And Kyle may do it from a back seat and a little more reserved, but he wants to make sure what they are doing makes an impact far greater than a banner.”
Remember Stock Shows Are a Privilege
Of course, the pursuit of banners does help pay the bills at Knauth Showpigs. But when Kyle recently had the opportunity to judge at the National Junior Summer Spectacular in Indianapolis, he reminded exhibitors and their families that stock shows are a privilege.
“This could go away at any moment,” he shared. “Everything about it is a privilege – spending time with our friends and family, teaching our kids valuable life lessons. We have to treat it that way. If we don’t, I’m afraid of what could come.”
He also talked about perseverance, Ellen adds. Without perseverance, they couldn’t have pushed through the bad seasons and boars that didn’t work. They couldn’t have endured when disease hit at a bad time and they ran out of stalls for the sows to go into. Every time something went wrong, they had to find the strength to push forward.
“I often think about how easy it would have been for Kyle to go find a job and how easy would it have been to give up on this dream,” Ellen says. “But if we wouldn’t have dug deep and figured it out, and made some sacrifices, we wouldn’t be where we are today. We both feel like it’s work and it sucks some days. But it’s not a job. When you get to wake up and do what you love to do every day, it’s not a job.”
In this episode of The PORK Podcast, Kyle, Ellen and Jennifer dive deep into:
- The Science of Building a Sow Line
- Mastering Stockmanship and Attention to Detail
- Balancing Busy Careers with Family Life
- The Power of Perseverance and Grit
Ready for the full conversation?
🎧 [Listen to the Knauths on The PORK Podcast]
