NSR Fieldview

Another outstanding week on the road it has been for me. State fair season is here folks and it seems as if it has brought my herd visit opportunities to a screeching halt, with the exception of a few firms in Ohio. The better portion of last week was spent at the Ohio State fair accompanying Ralph and helping out in a variety of fashions. Ralph and I both spent time at the beginning of the week at the junior gilt show there in Ohio and then helped with the junior barrow check-in later in the week. I was flattered to have the opportunity to assist with a variety of tasks at these two shows. Ohio has a remarkable set of leaders that work hard to make these shows a success.
                Tuesday the 31st Ralph and I made a quick visit to Watsons in KY to look at their [ … ]

                The week of July the 23rd was spent with only a few days out on the road as I had the annual NJSA Junior Board retreat to tend to. I am incredibly excited to serve as your 2012-2013 NJSA President. I take every opportunity presented to share with people just how fortunate I have been this year with the once in a lifetime opportunities that have come my way. I truly feel privileged!
                Monday the 23rd I had to make the stop in Chrisman and look in at a Yorkshire herd that has made a rather significant impact on the breed in the past several years. Tracy Lorenzen has an infatuation with making Yorkshire better each generation. His determination is paralleled by only a select few breeders in the business. Like many visits I have been on, the sow herd here is the element that allows success to come [ … ]

                Michigan Livestock Expo was held July 13th-17th. Ali, the NJSA Intern and I would spend the weekend at the show helping out in any fashion we could. Hats off to Al Snedegar, Brad Mortenson, Ernie Birchmier and crew for organizing a great event. The NSR breeds were very well represented and your grand and reserve overall hogs would be two Yorkshires. My first Michigan experience was great! My favorite part may have been meeting a lot of new people!
                After wrapping up my trip to Michigan Livestock expo I would make my way back down into Indiana where I would finally make my way to a few well marked places on the map for those that scour the country come spring time looking for that next great one.
                 I spent Tuesday morning visiting with Dave Kilmer about their program and what allows for their success. Dave has seen the [ … ]

Hey folks, I saw a really nice set of hogs this week. If you are looking for some breed changers, I have seen some hogs that will make an impact. I had a great visit at numerous places, including Meekers, Peters, Showtime and Hi Point. Give me a call or check out their websites!

               What an impressive week it was there in Louisville folks. Once more, I was impressed by the amount of outside help and commitment displayed by the youth, parents, and breeders of our outstanding organization!
                The opportunity to spend the week before Louisville at the office in West Lafayette brought upon an opportunity for me to experience first-hand just what kind of “prep” went in to making this show run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Needless to say, I may have fine tuned my organizational skills that week by a mere margin.
                July 9th would mark that start of a week that was sure to be an eye opener for me not only in terms of the hogs I would set me eager eyes upon, but maybe more so the philosophy and passion possessed by the gentlemen behind these two lucrative firms. Now readers, on a more personal note, as [ … ]

Gettin’ after it would be the name of the game for week two on the road starting June 17.  With twelve herd visits on the list and only five days to get them done; a quick kick of the tires sent Brian and I on our way! I spent Saturday and Sunday in West Allis, WI sharing my enthusiasm for the show ring with an outstanding group of youngsters from all over the state of WI. Greg Krahn and I had an awesome weekend working with kids and pigs.
                Monday afternoon, Brian and I made our way south west from Caney, KS to visit John Staude at the Oklahoma State University Swine Farm. Ladies and gents, this visit did not disappoint! John has got an elite set of up and coming WOW females that he and the boys are sure excited about.  After evaluating this set I could surely see [ … ]

I thought I had better put up a quick blog posting this week; I didn’t want the intern to outdo me two weeks in a row.

I have been busy looking at bred gilts this past week and trying to get a few STC hogs looked at during my travels as well. If you are in the market for breds, make sure you look at the set Peter Farms is sell tonight. I have also looked at the Huinker and Nelson offerings, and I have a visit with Olsen’s scheduled for tomorrow. If you have any questions about these gilts give me a call.

I hope that everyone has had a chance to catch their breath and get things caught up back home at the farm this week after an outstanding 2012 WPX. Surely, this year’s expo will be talked about for years to come with two record setting selling hogs that went through the sale ring. I truly felt privileged to be a part of an event that wouldn’t happen without such great breeders, and junior exhibitors and sponsors! Also, hats off to the rest of the NSR staff for running such a smooth event.
Michael and I set out on the road early Wednesday morning stopping by SGI and then making our way northeast to Decorah to visit John Hunikers. I was thoroughly impressed with my visit to both places.
Our visit to SGI served us well as Michael and I viewed a few boars that we agree will move the breeds in [ … ]

Sorry that it has been awhile folks! It can get a little crazy and to be honest, blogging can be the last thing I think about. But I thought I would tell you about a few hogs to look up at the Expo.

Steve Sell has a really good cross boar headed to Des Moines, he is sired by Hill Billy bone and out of the 10 thousand dollar donation gilt from last year. This guy is good and needs to be studied.

Randy Wirt of South Dakota has a pair of Hampshire boars he is taking sired by Mac, these two hogs need a good home, they have a chance to make better Hampshires. They hit me really hard when I stopped in last week.

From a Duroc stand point I have seen several boars that have gotten me excited. Nathan Weisinger has a good one sired by Crown [ … ]