Last Hog Day

 I moved to this farm with my parents in 1960.  I know that there have been hogs raised on this farm continuously since then.  We started with a pasture farrowing system, then when I was in grade school we converted our dairy barn to a farrowing house.  After school, my brother and I would feed the sows in crates, clean out the manure from behind her, and bed down the sides of the crates with straw for the baby pigs.  There was a manure spreader parked in the middle alley that we filled with the manure and wet straw we removed from the crates.  Whenever the spreader got full, Dad would spread it and park it back in the alley.  On the other end of the barn alley was a feed wagon filled with ground feed.  That's where we got the feed to feed the sows.   We dipped the feed out with 5 gallon buckets.  We also caught and held the baby pigs while Dad clipped teeth and tails, vaccinated, gave iron shots, and castrated. 

While I was in High School, we built our first confinement building.  It was fully slatted with a six foot pit under it.  It became our farrowing house and nursery. Economy Builders from Princeville (the Streitmatters) built it for us.  Sows and finishing pigs were all still outside in open front sheds. When I came home from college I designed a new farrow/nursery building that Vernon, Ted, and Myron Blunier helped us build. The old farrow/nursery was converted to finishing.  As the years went by, we added a couple more confinement buildings (built by H & W Systems, Fairbury) plus two hoop buildings.  Gestation sows were all that were still in open front sheds.

In 2012 we switched from a farrow to finish operation to a wean to finish operation.  We bought 3 week old pigs and finished them out.  Our farrowing rooms were converted to nurseries.  Three or four years ago, my brother decided he wanted out of the hog operation.  Neither of us have sons that are interested in continuing the hog operation.  I enjoyed raising pigs and didn't mind the work.  It got hectic during planting and harvest to handle it all alone, but I managed.  Now, it is getting hard to find help when I want to travel or vacation, and I don't want to always impose on family.  And I do want to travel more.  The buildings are showing their age and need some repair and  investment to keep them serviceable.  I just don't want to stick more money into them, and at my advanced age, I want to slow down a bit.

So, I made the decision to exit the pork production business!  After working with pigs 45 years full time and 10 or 12 helping dad while in school, I exit.  I received my last baby pigs late spring, and shipped my last load of market hogs two weeks ago. 

Nathan Wiegand brought last pigs coming to the farm.

Clay Kelsey backing up to the door for the last time.

Last pigs moving down the alley.

Last load headed down the road.

We had family birthdays one night a week or so ago, and the family decided to celebrate the end of an era.  They surprised me with a "hogs head" cake and sang "Happy last hog day to you" to the tune of  Happy Birthday! 

 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.    Matthew 8:32

Progress

 I attended the Farm Progress Show in Decatur earlier this fall.  I drove by myself because I didn't want to spend all day.  I had too much to do back home.  I was especially impressed with the Nexat machine, the 60 foot draper, and the "drone" that you can ride on.  

Harvest is progressing fairly smoothly.  We always start slow, but we are now at full speed.  The soybeans are finished all except the double crop beans.  The corn is now all dry enough and we can make good progress in the cornfields.  The "new" combine and draper have been performing very well.  A few minor issues on the combine, but nothing that has slowed us down too much.  I did have one very frustrating day when I needed a sensor that was flashing me warnings that we don't think were legitimate.  It was about 11:00 in the morning and after talking with a mechanic, I decided to change the sensor.  The two closest John Deere dealers did not have the part I needed.  Their computer told me that the part was available in Lexington and Brimfield.  I called Lexington first, and they said they didn't have one.  The gentleman that answered the phone in Brimfield told me that the computer showed they had one but he wanted to check and make sure.  After a couple of minutes, he came back to the phone and said yes, he had one in his hand.  I told him to hold it for me and I would be there within the hour.  When I walked into the Brimfield store, no one was around.  I rang the bell at the parts counter, and a gal came out from back to help me.  I explained the situation, and after checking her computer she disappeared into the back.  About ten minutes later she reappeared and said she couldn't find it and asked who I had spoken to.  He hadn't told me his name.  She rummaged around the other computer desks, the counter behind her, and stuck her head into an office.  She disappeared in the back again, but when she returned she apologized, but no part.  Her computer told her that Lexington and Streater had the part.  Since I had already checked with Lexington, I called Streater.  Yes, they had the part and would hold it for me. So I headed the opposite direction and when I got to the dealer in Streater, they did indeed have the part!  By the time I got back home and installed the sensor, it was mid afternoon.  And I had driven almost 190 miles for a $75 part!

One day when we weren't in the field because of a rain break, I went shopping at Sam's Club with my daughter and three granddaughters.  That was a fun experience!  I ended up spending way more than I had intended to.  The highlight for the girls were the Halloween yard decorations.

I enjoy long romantic walks down the cheese aisle.

We drove out to Bloomfield this week for my uncle Roy's funeral.  He was my mom's youngest and last surviving brother.  He was a colorful character, and I enjoyed the times we were together.  It was good to be there and see the family.  It made for a big day, but we enjoyed the drive.  We stopped at Dutchman's Store in Cantral on the way back, and also stopped to see Carly and Logan's house in Trivoli, and Clayton and Jessica's house in Hanna City.

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.                   I Thessalonians 1:13