Pork Month

October is famous for Pork Month in Iowa. It is a great time to honor all of our hardworking pork producers. Iowa is the number one pork producing state in the United States and also the top state for pork exports. Pork is the leading animal protein for consumers across the globe. Nearly one-third of the nation’s hogs are raised in Iowa and in 2018, producers marketed almost 48 million hogs. Generations of Iowans have passed down the passion, knowledge, and experience of raising pigs and producing pork efficiently.

When I think of a pork producer I immediately think of my late Uncle Greg. He passed away unexpectedly last spring but will long be remembered as a loyal pork producer. He was the last of a dying breed. He was not scared to work and labor-intensive pasture farrowing was his passion, he excelled at it. He had a large newer finishing building at my great grandma’s farm that was always filled with only his stout and hardy outside born and bred pigs. He went through more little straw bales in a month of farrowing than most people do in a lifetime. He always had wire from the bales in his pocket and hanging on every gate. My memories with my uncle and his kids include their 16-acre sandpit behind their house raising some of the toughest, hardiest hogs I’ve ever seen in rows and rows of steel port-a-huts year-round with huge 700-pound sows. These memories are something I will never forget and the work ethic to raise hogs this way is what made my uncle so special.

October is the perfect month to remember him and his love for hogs as his sons have gradually gotten out of farrowing. The finishing building is now full of custom fed hogs that my cousins tend to. Yes, things have changed, but the passion for pork production remains. The work ethic my Uncle Greg taught us will be remembered for years to come. I celebrate pork month in October but I cannot eat a big juicy brat, pork chop, or ham without thinking of and fondly remembering my favorite pork producer.

~ Kesley Holdgrafer