Finalists for America’s Pig Farmer of the Year announced

Sep 02, 2015

Four finalists vying for the title

Four farmers representing the states of Iowa, Ohio and Indiana have been announced as the finalists for the National Pork Board’s new award, America’s Pig Farmer of the Year.

"The four finalists represent the diverse pork industry in the United States," said National Pork Board President Derrick Sleezer, a farmer from Cherokee, Iowa. "They all have shown a focus on environmental sustainability, animal welfare and continuous improvement."

Piglets

The farmers, Steve Kerns and Marti Knoblock from Iowa, Keith Schoettmer from Indiana and Lauren Schwab from Ohio have dedicated themselves to raising healthy, happy pigs using the We Care principles.

The National Pork Board, National Pork Producers Council and state pork organizations started the We Care initiative to encourage farmers and employees to use best practices when caring for and raising pigs. Some of the practices include:

Producing safe food
Promoting animal well-being
Protecting public health
Giving back to the community

Until Thursday, September 10^th, the public can vote for their favorite finalist. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, October 7^th.

Brief Finalist Biographies:

Marti Knoblock – From Rock Rapids, Iowa, he co-owns GMC farms with his brothers. The farm raises pigs in modern slatted, curtain-sided barns equipped with deep pits. The farm markets about 23,000 pigs each year.

Steve Kerns – From Clearfield, Iowa, he runs Kerns Farms, which initially started out as a 4-H project. Along with his wife and two sons, the farm markets about 10,000 pigs annually.

Lauren Schwab – From Somerville, Ohio, she works on a 230-acre farrow-to-wean farm that houses 1,100 sows. The sows produce about 30,000 piglets each year which are then sold to other farmers for finishing.

Keith Schoettmer – From Tipton, Indiana, he founded Schoettmer Prime Pork in 1987. The farrow-to-finish farm raises about 22,000 pigs annually.

Video: Fall Harvest Update: Corn, Soybeans, And Alfalfa Crop Check!

Harvest season is right around the corner, so while bush hogging down weeds, we take you with us to see how the corn, soybean, and alfalfa crops are coming along and Arnie does his "famous" crop talks with viewers. With the very wet spring planting season, followed by a wet and humid summer, the crops were looking healthy and yet there were some puzzling growing trends as well which we are not sure how they will play our for us come fall harvest time. At Ewetopia Farms, we rely on our grain harvests and alfalfa hay to feed our sheep, so growing the best crops possible means good sheep feed for us to keep our sheep and the sheep farm running well. So here's hoping for a bountiful harvest!