First county, now state honors farm as Master Pork Producer

   One year ago, the Chad and Renee Adams farm of Monticello was chosen as the Jones County Master Pork Producer.

   This year, the farm took another step up: it is one of several chosen as Master Pork Producers for the entire state of Iowa.

   While the complete 2024 list of Master Pork Producers had not yet been released by the Iowa Pork Producers Association, generally anywhere from three to 10 farms statewide are selected.

   “It’s humbling,” Chad Adams said. “It’s a pretty big honor.”

   It also came as a surprise, as daughter Breanna Fellinger and son Cole Adams knew about the award but were able to keep it under wraps until their parents were notified by the IPPA.

   “The whole board agreed to nominate them, and we filled out an application in July,” said Breanna, who is on the Jones County Pork Producers Board.

   “We thought about telling them that we nominated them. I’m like, ‘No, let’s keep it a surprise and see what happens from there.’ ”

   “We didn’t know anything about it,” Renee said.

   They finally learned of the nomination in late September, and found out they were selected in early October.

   Once chosen, the family took part in a Zoom meeting to answer questions about the farm, and then took part in a video interview with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, and another one with the IPPA.

   The family will be recognized in January at the Iowa Pork Congress in Des Moines.

   Chad, Renee, Breanna and Cole currently work on the farm, although Breanna, 24, is on maternity leave, as she and husband Quinton Fellinger are now parents of a three-week-old son, Corbin.

   Cole, 20, had been working at a nearby cattle farm but decided to return to work on the family farm.

   “I came back here in August fulltime,” Cole said.

   The family takes pride in its pork production.

   “We finish out 28,000 a year,” Chad said. “We’re a wean-to-finish operation. We try to do things the right way, and try to raise a good product.”

   About 75 percent of their hogs go to Smithfield in Monmouth, Ill. for processing; the remainder go to Tyson in Waterloo.

   “All the corn we raise goes into hog feed,” Chad said. “We also have to outsource extra bushels from local neighbors or a co-op.”

   It is a Century Farm, having received that recognition in 2019 for operating a farm that has been in the same family for 100 years.

   “Renee and I are fourth-generation farmers,” Chad said. “Breanna and Cole are the fifth generation. Corbin will be the sixth generation if he wants to raise pigs. So, it’s kind of cool.”

   There are unique aspects to the Adams farm, not least of which is making its own feed, through the feed mill that went into operation on the farm in 2019.

   Each of the four has duties to perform to keep the farm running smoothly.

   “Cole and I haul the feed, and do daily chores,” Chad said. “Cole is probably more the outside guy, the maintenance guy, jack of all trades.

   “Breanna did a lot of the feed-making (prior to giving birth); also daily chores.”

   Renee added: “Typically I’m doing the accounting, and this year I’ve stepped more back into sorting and selling hogs, vaccinating when we have to, and starting to make a little bit of feed.”

   Breanna, who graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in ag studies, works on record-keeping, and does data entry for the software the farm uses, Renee said.

   “Everything is app-based,” Chad said, adding that they can use their phones to control temperatures in the hog barns.

   “It’s very interesting,” Renee pointed out, “how times are changing with the technology that’s coming out.”

   “Technology is getting bigger,” Cole said.

   They have a research barn, which they have operated for five years in conjunction with a feed company. There, they learn more about pigs’ digestive health, better growth, better feed efficiency, and more.

   The family also has custom feeders who help with the workload.

   “We oversee all of (the pigs), but we chore 11,000 to 12,000. And then we have some feeders who take care of the rest,” Renee said.

   The family has also begun selling hogs to individuals or to local lockers.

   “People can buy directly from us, and have (the locker) process it however you want it,” Chad said.

   “Our customer base is growing every year with that,” Renee added.

   For years, Chad and Renee have stressed the importance of continuing to educate the public about agriculture.

   “There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” Renee said. “Doesn’t matter if it’s pork, or cattle, or just farming in general.

   “So one thing that we always stress is, if people have questions about things, ask a farmer. Go directly to the source. We’re more than happy to educate people on what’s really happening, and put a face to where their food is coming from.”

   “Reach out to us,” Chad added.

   Renee also pointed out that the family continues to support the Jones County Pork Producers.

   “We are so fortunate to have such a strong pork producer organization here in Jones County,” she said.