Year: 2012

Dr. Barry R. Kerkaert This past fall, Dr. Barry R. Kerkaert had the opportunity to work with the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) in their Swine Veterinarian Public Policy Advocacy Program. A well-respected swine veterinarian and production consultant throughout the upper Midwest, Dr. Kerkaert was invited by NPPC to Washington, D.C. to study public policy…

Hal Schmidt By Hal Schmidt, Great Plains Family Farms, Inc. In pork production, like the rest of life, we can control certain things and there are certain things we can’t control. As we wrap up the year and look toward the start of another, let’s resolve to spend more time on the things we can…

In November of 2011, the Pipestone Veterinary Clinic hired Dr. Scott Dee as its director of research. Dr. Dee made his reputation as a national and international expert in applied disease-control research, with an emphasis on PRRS virus control and elimination. After practicing veterinary medicine for 12 years in Morris, Minn, Dr. Dee then joined…

Northeast Iowa was home to Dan Rodas when he was growing up.  The family dairy farm provided learning experiences, challenges and satisfaction of seeing a job completed from start to finish.  The hard work and commitment continues today as Dan is supervisor over six Pipestone Management farms. This farm boy started riding around on the…

Pipestone Veterinary Clinic recently held a series of meetings to bring clients and system shareholders the latest information on control and elimination of the PRRS virus. Held in Mitchell, SD, Pipestone, MN, and Independence, IA, the meetings discussed data the clinic’s research program has collected on the PRRS virus and how that data could be…

Tuesday afternoon, August 14, ten people—including Pipestone Vet Clinic’s Carissa Odland, DVM, and Pipestone Management’s Terry Wolters—crowded around the manager of Pheasant Run sow farm near Cleveland, Minnesota to hear a description of the farrowing process. Five of the 10 were mothers that are active in their communities of Minneapolis and St. Paul who had…

Random Acts of Kindness 2012 is a formal opportunity for Pipestone Management employees to give back to their communities. This third annual event ran from February 13 to April 16. Here’s what a few of our locations did with the $50 in seed money from Pipestone Management. Eagle Ridge (Aurora, Iowa) put their $50 together…

Terry Wolters As a Pipestone Management shareholder you may be familiar with Terry Wolters as a man who has worn many hats within the System. A native of Washington state and an animal science graduate of Washington State University at Pullman, Terry spent many years with PIC in Kentucky, eastern Iowa, and South Dakota before…

Bringing their sons into the family business. That’s the near- and long-term objective of Greg and Paula Boerboom of Marshall, MN. Part of their strategy for reaching this objective involves a new feed mill (currently under construction) and access to more baby pigs. The Pipestone Management has been and will continue to be an important…

By David Preisler, Executive Director, Minnesota Pork Producers Association   What’s the best housing for sows—group pens or individual gestation stalls?  Fanned into flame by animal rights organizations, the answer to this question is a burning topic of discussion in state capitols, Washington, D.C., and multi-national food corporation boardrooms. This debate, however, has taken place…

By David Preisler, Executive Director, Minnesota Pork Producers Association We are entering our second season of Oink Outings, an exciting initiative that communicates your story and your long-term perspective to consumers whose preferences drive retail and food service companies’ pork purchasing and distribution decisions. The Minnesota Pork Board (MPB) staff worked with a public relations…

David Preisler, Executive Director, Minnesota Pork Producers Association Exports have driven demand for U.S. pork in recent months. “Foreign buyers look to the U.S. for a combination of food safety, food quality, and price,” says David Preisler, executive director of the Minnesota Pork Producers Association (MPPA). “Right now, we’re the best country in the world…

Pipestone Management’s Management in Training (MIT) course prepares aspiring leaders for all aspects of barn management, according to human resources director Donna Hazelton. “It gets them ready for everything they will face on a day-to-day basis, from recognizing illness in the pigs to effectively training their staff,” she states. The MIT course, taught by System…

“One generation makes. The next generation uses. The third generation loses.” Chris Veldhuizen heard this warning countless times from his grandfather Christiaan, who came to America from the Netherlands and moved his family to the farm north of Edgerton, MN, in 1936. Chris Veldhuizen, born to Christiaan’s son Elmer and daughter-in-law Marie in 1949, spent…