Skip to main content

Routine

     This past week was a little more routine. Rain the end of last week and again yesterday kept us out of the field for a while. Cory had a couple of days off from college but missed out on any field work due to the rain. He did volunteer to clean out the back of the truck we use to haul sows between places. After he shoveled out the “used” bedding he decided it needed a good power washing.
     I am sure the sows appreciated it. Trent would like to do more power washing but it is a job that requires you to be well grounded. He may have to put on a few more pounds before he can do it.
 He did take me up on my offer to let him sanitize the stalls after they were washed. We do this to get rid of any bad bugs that may still be around. It seems appropriate that he is wearing his skeleton shirt while eliminating bugs.
      Monday the sun shone so we were able to get some harvesting done.
  Yields continue to be better than we expected. God is good!


      Tuesday brought more rain and a chance to get caught up on pig work. This load of pigs is being moved from the nursery to one of our finishers.
      Tuesday evening we attended Ryan’s concert at Pella Christian. The choir and the band gave outstanding performances. 
 Thanks for visiting.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Priorities

Much like fall, spring is a very busy time on a livestock/crop farm. Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is to decide what to do first. When the weather warms and the fields dry it is time to put the crop in the ground. Time is of the essence when it comes to planting. There are weeks were you may only get a few hours in the fields due to weather. An dry, early spring is no indication of a dry later spring. Despite the pressures of planting, the crops are not the first priority of the day.                                                                                                                    The pigs always get top billing. Chores, weaning, breeding, load for market, all get don...
Post a Comment
Read more

Employee Feature: Jon Phelps

          “This will take only 10 minutes, I promise”, I reassure the head of farrowing as he takes a rare break from his work. A familiar, bashful smile appears while we make our way to the office space of the building. “You’re the first employee we’re doing a feature on, so you should definitely feel special about this one.” He laughs and we begin.           This is Jon Phelps, the recently promoted head of farrowing here at VG Farms. For the past six years he has spent his time helping nearly a quarter of a million piglets into the world. It all started when he decided he wanted to return to hog farming since leaving an operation in Alexandria, South Dakota. “I saw the opening online and had previous experience in farrowing that I really enjoyed”, he explains, “I filled out the application and here I am.” Jon has come along quite a ways since first beginning with the VG Farms family; from doing chores at on...
Post a Comment
Read more

Backing Away from Basics

How many times have you said to yourself or to others that there is a need to get back to basics? A return to the basics can help us realign with the fundamental principles of the task at hand. It’s generally very helpful. When I was struggling in a sport, I often backtracked to the fundamentals to discovered my point of error. Other’s use it in work, family life, and in cooking. Unfortunately, I believe that we have remained a bit too basic in our approach to pork. Go to a retail store and you will see the same cuts that have been available for the past 30 years. You will see chops, shoulder and loin roasts, tenderloins, ham steaks, etc. Now there is nothing wrong with those cuts as they present a myriad of cooking opportunities. But the wonderful pig produces so much more! Take for example some of the dishes we served this week at a pork education event. We made street tacos out of pork steaks (it’s the Spinalis muscle if you want to get technical). We made Chulet...
1 comment
Read more