You Need Some Pigs to Take Care of...

I was talking to a friend at our high school football game Friday night and he asked me if we had done any harvesting yet. I said, "Yes, we have about 60 acres done." He replied with a slight sense of bewilderment, “Only 60? I have almost 300 acres out!” I responded, "You need some pigs to take care of."

When you have to take care of 30,000 head of hogs, getting the crop in usually falls in second on the priority list. We are usually not in the combine by 6:00 in the morning. There are always things to get done - chores to do, hogs to load for market, pigs to wean, sows to breed, power washing, feed to haul - you get the idea.

I often say we raise pigs for a living the crops are our hobby. While I am usually joking when I say that, there is an element of truth to the statement. We have no problem filling our work week only taking care of the pigs. That means in the spring and fall there are a lot of extra hours put in to get things done.

Now you could ask, "If it takes so much extra effort, then why do it?" The reason we do it is because they both complement each other. It creates what is commonly referred to as a 'sustainable system'. It starts with the feed when we feed corn and soybeans to the pigs to produce protein (i.e. chops, ham, and bacon). The by-product is manure which is the perfect fertilizer to raise corn. Adam has been doing some repairs to our tank to get it ready for the many hours of use it will get this fall.

The manure benefits the next corn crop that is fed to the pigs and the cycle repeats itself. It is a natural, sustainable system. It may take some more work during planting and harvesting season, but it is constantly paying itself off. And besides, everyone needs a hobby.

Thanks for visiting our blog and remember to drive carefully with the extra farm traffic on the roads this time of the year.

- VG Farms

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