Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 23
was a 20-acre hog lot, " Jim relates. " The fence went over
by that oak tree over there and you can see a line of trees
over there. There wasn't a blade of grass there. Everything
washed down in that creek. We didn't have fish kills back
then because there weren't any fish alive in the stream. "
Today the creek runs clear. There's corn growing on the
far side of the creek and a good stand of grass that is baled
by neighbors.
At the farm behind Phil's house their father once raised
sows on 15 acres with pens divided by an electric fence.
The sows were brought to a gestation barn where they
were serviced by boars, then returned to the pens.
" In the wintertime it was muddy and cold and you'd
load the trailer with straw and go wading through the mud
trying to get straw to the fields, " Jim recalls. " The mud was
so thick it would suck your boots off. The sows were miserable.
Now they are in a heated and cooled, environmentally
controlled building. There's just no comparison to their
comfort, the employees' comfort and the production. "
Jim says pork producers don't get credit for what they
have done to increase production in order to feed a hungry
world while at the same time ending practices that might
harm the land.
Visitors to a modern hog farm will quickly notice three
things that are missing. First, you won't see any hogs.
They are kept inside climate-controlled buildings. Second,
there's little to no odor. Finally, rubber boots are optional.
However, visitors are discouraged here and at hog farms
elsewhere due to concerns over biosecurity.
At Reliance Pork, signs warn against visiting without an
invitation. Step inside the office and you will be asked to
sanitize your shoes. Workers shed the clothes they arrive
in and shower, then change into clean clothes before entering
where the hogs are kept. Anything that goes in with
them is sanitized by ultraviolet lights.
" It's a concern, " Jim says of the need to keep the barns
disease free. " You've got millions of dollars riding on keeping
them healthy. "
The pigs are raised antibiotic free (ABF) until they are
sold at 21 days of age and shipped to Iowa where they continue
to be raised antibiotic free until they are marketed
and the meat is sold by niche markets specializing in ABF.
The big barns at Reliance Pork are rated at 5,600 sows.
In a year, they can raise 160,000 pigs crate- and stallfree.
The sows are fed through automated systems that
recognize each one and dispense the proper mix of food
and nutrients. The feed - 300 to 350 tons per week - is
mixed at the farm, further reducing the risk of contamination.
The ration of corn and soy meal comes for the most
part from neighboring farms, adding to the economy of the
region. In turn, the waste from the hogs goes back on the
fields, replacing nutrients lost to the crops.
Under the floor of each barn is a water-filled, concrete
pit that catches the waste. The water traps ammonia and
odor. Once a week a plug is pulled and the pits are flushed
into lagoons. From there it is pumped through underground
pipes and spread through center-pivot irrigation.
Water has taken the place of the pitchfork and scoop
shovel Jim and Phil once used on a daily basis, along with
the finicky manure spreader.
Today the Howertons focus solely on pork production,
leaving the row cropping to neighboring farms. They
Top: Ivan Howerton feeds Chester White hogs destined for the
market in St. Louis. In his day hogs were free to roam the fields but
caused erosion and other problems. Bottom: Farm worker Samantha
Gilmore scratches the ears of one of the many hogs getting ready for
market in a finishing barn at the home place farm.
employ 38 workers, all from the area.
Jim can remember a time during the farm crisis of the
1980s when he struggled to meet the farm payroll. " We
about went broke, " he says. " There's been more weeks
than I like to admit that I was concerned. "
There were other difficult times like when the brothers
and their dad took a rare break from the farm to go goose
hunting. When they arrived at their destination they were
called back home. A gas regulator on a farrowing house
had stuck, burning the building to the ground and taking
50 sows and a thousand pigs with it.
The barns have all been converted to nurseries now,
with Fast Genetics pigs coming in weekly from Apple Valley
Pork in Minnesota. Other parts of the farm keep the
Reliance operation furnished, with leftovers shipped to St.
Joseph to be sold as market hogs. It's a tightly integrated
operation that runs like a track meet.
" It's a lot different than when they were raised outside, "
Jim says. " Dad would be a lot happier now than he would
have been five years ago when we signed that note. Dad
was aware change had to happen. He made a way for us to
come back. That's one of the purposes of Reliance Pork, to
make the seventh and eighth generations possible. "
You can learn more about the Howerton family and Reliance
Pork at www.reliancepork.com. For more information
about today's pork production visit www.mopork.com.
OCTOBER 2022 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP 23
http://www.reliancepork.com
http://www.mopork.com
http://www.RURALMISSOURI.COOP
Rural Missouri - October 2022
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - October 2022
Contents
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - Cover1
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - Cover2
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - Contents
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 4
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 5
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 6
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 7
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 8
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 9
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 10
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 11
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 12
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 13
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 14
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 15
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 16
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 17
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 18
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 19
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 20
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 21
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 22
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 23
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 24
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 25
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 26
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 27
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 28
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 29
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 30
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 31
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Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 33
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 34
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 35
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 36
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 37
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 38
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 39
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 40
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 41
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 42
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 43
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Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 46
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Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 49
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - 50
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - Cover3
Rural Missouri - October 2022 - Cover4
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