It’s down to the final four for the National Pork Board’s 2018 America’s Pig Farmer of the Year award. The program honors a U.S. pig farmer each year who excels at raising pigs following the We Care ethical principles and who is committed to sharing their farming story with the American public.
“The four finalists demonstrate how pig farmers embrace the We Care ethical principles as their daily standard of care,” said National Pork Board President Steve Rommereim, a pig farmer from Alcester, South Dakota. “They represent these principles by being the best in pig farming.”
The 2018 finalists are:
- Patrick Bane – Arrowsmith, Illinois: Bane, whose family has been in the hog business for three generations, raises 74,000 pigs on his farm in west-central Illinois, where he focuses on protecting public health, hiring the best people, and maintaining herd health.
- Bill Luckey – Columbus, Nebraska: Fourth-generation farmer, Luckey, along with his wife and three sons, market 10,000 pigs a year. They also raise cattle, corn, and soybeans on their farm.
- Brad Lundell – Kiron, Iowa: Learning from five generations of family farming, Lundell hopes consumers see why pig farming is family-oriented. With the help of his wife Sarah, and four children, they also raise turkeys, corn, and soybeans.
- Kevin Rasmussen – Goldfield, Iowa: Employee care is important in providing a safe product at KLR Pork, where fourth-generation farmer, Rasmussen markets 26,000 pigs a year from his farrow-to-finish farm.
The four finalists will meet with an expert panel of third-party judges in Chicago. The judges will view videos produced at the finalists’ farms and will interview each of them.
Through Aug. 29, the public can vote once a day per person per email address for their favorite finalist at www.americaspigfarmer.com. The winner will be announced the week of Oct. 1 based on the judges’ scores and the online voting.
