Pedigree/Genetics of Champion: Anchorman x Drop The Mic x Mogul x On Top. The great granddam was one of our key foundation crossbred sows, Mouse. Her genetics have been in nearly every state and national crossbred champion we have raised in the last 5 years. She is still living, but has earned her retirement. She is living out her days just being a pig.

How did you get involved in the swine industry?
I started in the commercial swine industry during a high school work program. I worked on a 1200 sow farrowing unit, and gained a very strong sow management knowledge base to build off of. I always had a love for livestock, but that was my first exposure to swine. I quickly realized that I enjoyed working with pigs and started looking for ways that I could personally be involved in the swine industry during and after attending Purdue.

With this being one of the major shows of the summer, how rewarding was it to capture a win?
For all breeders, feeders, families, and showman, we were not sure we would even have a show to go to this year, let alone win! So for us that made raising this barrow a little sweeter. We are just so thankful for the perseverance of the breed associations and show organizers to provide this opportunity for the kids!

With the pandemic, what struggles have you faced as a breeder and how do you think the show world will evolve with the problems we are facing?
UNCERTAINTY....I think everyone can agree on this one. But PERSEVERANCE is the word that describes how the show world has responded. What I have seen firsthand, from all members of this industry, has me as excited as ever about our future and strength as an industry. We are a strong bunch that will do what it takes to provide the opportunities to the kids to participate in what we all love.

What breeding decision are you most excited about for the next breeding/farrowing season?
Honestly, all of them. We are a very small 30 sow operation that is built off of quality. We have been very fortunate to consistently raise pigs that go on to be state and national show winners over the last 5 years. I believe that is a testament to the quality of sows that we try to have on the place.