This week entailed some of the most exciting stops thus far. It further exemplified the foundation of any successful breeding program starts with the sow base. I began the week meeting with Brett Beyers at the family farm in Illinois. With all this firm’s success at the majors down south in Texas and most recently at World Pork Expo, I knew I had to go see what the buzz was all about. The visit was highlighted by going through the sow herd. After seeing some of these impressive females, I am a firm believer that this farm’s success is no accident. As far as boars, Milestone and Different Deal were both fun to see as mature sires. They are extra heavy structured and still really correct. Finally, the day was concluded with looking at some exciting young boars. The most notable was a really interesting Lifetime son whose extra power and shape makes him really unique, yet still has the basic build to make champion barrows. Thanks, Brett, for the great tour, and it was a pleasure visiting with you.
From Beyers’ I headed north to Seth Swenson’s operation to go through boars with him. Seeing key sires like Grand Mentality, Stingray, Off Label 15-3, the Super Monster clones and many more made this trip worth every minute of travel. I left Showtime Sires very impressed with the set of boars and thankful for the opportunity to swing by.
I was able to travel through my home county Wednesday in Southeast Iowa, making stops at both Brinning Genetics and All A-Marek-N Sires. While at Shane’s, I was able to see some of the key boars, including Bear Down, along with one of the most exciting crossbred boars I’ve seen this summer, a Best Man son they call Wedding Crasher. The sow herd came next, and once again, I was impressed but not surprised that a successful outfit, like Brinning’s, was backed with an elite group of females.
From there I traveled to Marek’s to go through their new additions to the boar stud. I must say, this new crop of boars may be the best set, as a whole, Tim and Dustin have put together, since the stud started. I was really impressed with the five Best Man littermates in stud, all offering subtle differences in power, look and build, making them a really versatile group of boars that should work on a variety of sows. Big thanks to Dustin and Tim for the great visit.
From there I met up with NSR Field Representative, Brian Anderson, to go through sows with Jesse Heimer as he prepares for his dispersal sale. Getting to sift through these proven generators the HH brand has been built around may be my highlight of the whole summer. I could go on for days about each individual sow, what they have done either as a mother or a show gilt and the mark they have made in Taylor, Missouri. Instead, I will just leave you with this: that group of sows is flat incredible and the reason Jesse Heimer has become one of the top breeders in the country. After spending hours looking at sows, we changed gears and looked at sale pigs, where an incredibly high-quality set greeted us at Jesse’s chip barn. I was really impressed with the pigs out of Ante Up as well was the new herdsire, Kiss My Hocks. In short, Ante Up does a great job of adding extra rib and power without sacrificing look and structure. Kiss My Hocks makes them flawless in the hip and hind leg while adding bone and giving them a great look. On a final note, do not count out Jesse’s boar he calls The Mutant just yet. Some of the best pigs in the barn were out of this new Swanson-bred sire. Trust me, in order to really appreciate The Mutant, you have to go see him in person. He is truly different and more unique than any hog I have ever laid eyes on. Thank you, Jesse and Boots, for the phenomenal herd visit.
To round out the week, I visited Don and Mark Peter’s to look through some key Hampshire sows. I am more and more impressed every time I see them. From there, I traveled to Kane Causemaker’s, Andy Rash’s and finished with Dan Meeker to look through some Durocs. Much appreciation goes out to all these breeders for taking the time to show me around and showcase some outstanding young prospect hogs, as well some of their best sows.
It’s been great to meet with all the producers and visit some of the top programs around. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at 319-430-7533.