Weekly Update 6/23/2024

6/23/2024

Ground Pork Giveaway

Good news! We have a little treat just in time for the 4th of July. We’re distributing six (6) one-pound packs of ground pork to all employees and days contracted site managers (those individuals whose names are on the contract). The ground pork will be distributed to regional warehouses and then distributed by the supervisors.

Here is the schedule:

Monday, June 24, 2024, 11:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. West Des Moines office

Monday, June 24, 2024 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Osceola Warehouse

Wednesday, June 26, 2024 8:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Osage Warehouse

Wednesday, June 26, 2024 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Rockwell City Warehouse

Tuesday, June 25 and Wednesday, June 26—8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. - at New Modern Concepts

A sincere thank you to all of the warehouse teams, supervisors and managers for help in coordinating this effort. We hope everyone enjoys the 4th of July holiday.

In Case You Missed It (ICYMI)

Thank You Tour Farms!

Did you know that only 1% of the global population gets to step foot inside a hog farm? Iowa Select Farms offers a unique experience to our packing partners by providing farm tours to retailers, wholesalers and food service providers to educate the supply chain about pig care to ensure a quality product for consumers. We want to extend a huge shout-out and THANK YOU to the teams at Sow 42 and Sow 44 for all the extra work put into site cleaning and maintenance to ensure these groups have an unforgettable experience. The most common feedback we receive highlights the evident love the team has for the animals and the impressive level of biosecurity. Visitors continuously leave with a newfound appreciation for our people and the hard work involved in pork production. We want you to know that you are appreciated and recognized throughout the entire supply chain for all that you do every single day!

So far this year, we have provided tours to JBS, Tyson, Lopez Dorada, Gordon Food Service, McDonald's, Walmart and Wild Fork Foods.

Congratulations on Retirement, Rod!

Wishing GDU Manager Rod Bolinger a happy and much deserved retirement! For 18 years, Rod dedicated his career to Iowa Select Farms. We certainly enjoyed his stories, wisdom and some laughs along the way.

"Rod was one of the most dedicated employees I had," said Bert Becker, GDU Supervisor, "he is such a caring person, especially for his entire team." Years ago, Rod stepped up immediately to pursue a management position at Iowa Select Farms. "He earned a lot of recognition for his dependability and commitment," said Jeremiah Hall, Director of GDU and Multiplication, "Rod stepped right in with a seamless transition, continuing to perform at the same level while leading the farm until the end of his career."

Rod's passion for agriculture extends outside of the pig barns. When he's not busy feeding and tending to his growing flock of chickens, he enjoys feeding those in need by donating nearly all his produce from his garden to individuals and families in need.

Rod now joins his wife, Carol Ann (also a former Iowa Select Farms employee) in the "retirement" club! Congratulations on a wonderful career.

Nutrient Management Team Success

Our phenomenal Nutrient Management team recently held their annual Nutrient Applicator Meeting where they hosted over 150 dedicated manure applicators. Together, this team applied nutrient-dense manure to over 170,000 acres of farm ground last year—exactly as nature had intended. Way to go!

Suggest a Stop for Operation Christmas Meal 2024!

Planning has started for one of our favorite Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation programs! Operation Christmas Meal will be here before we know it, and we need your help. We’re taking suggestions for what towns the pork loin giveaways should visit this year. What towns have we missed in past years? Are there towns in your area that would benefit from this program? Let us know at this link.

SwineSight 2024 Station Recap--Health

Health station #1 at SwineSight 2024 brought out our artistic abilities as we drew what our healthy pigs look like. Some of the excellent drawings can be found below!

So, what characteristics does a healthy pig have?

• Alert and Active

• Good body condition

• Normal feed and water intake

• Slick hair coat

• Clean eyes and nose

• Normal laying patterns

• Bearing weight evenly on all limbs

• Relaxed in the presence of humans

• Normal bowel movements and dunging patterns

How do we maintain and/or correct pig health?

Good daily observations (feed, water, air, care), biosecurity execution, vaccination plans, and help from our supervisors and veterinarians are some examples of how we maintain positive herd health. Providing Top-Notch Pig Care 24/7/365 is our top priority to keeping pigs healthy.

Food Safety

When treating and vaccinating pigs, it is important that we follow our food safety protocols, which include our broken needle policy and respecting withdrawal times.

By keeping pigs healthy and following our food safety protocols, we protect the food supply chain and provide safe, wholesome, and nutritious pork to our customers!

Recognizing the Hard Work and Dedication of Our Employees

During the recent production management meeting, senior leaders and attendees expressed their deep appreciation for each department's efforts. The atmosphere was filled with enthusiasm as everyone took turns highlighting the dedication and hard work of their colleagues. We want to ensure everyone knows how valued they are. Let's hear what was said about the Gene Transfer Centers and the Purchasing and Warehouse team.

Gene Transfer Centers

For being such great crews with positive attitudes
For being such great trainers and welcoming any visitors to get a “hands on” experience
Continued efforts to deliver clean, quality semen

Working on switching half the sows over to PIC 800 semen
Always providing high quality semen to our GDU & Sow farms
Being flexible to change processes for biosecurity improvements such as dedicated routes and changes of getting in/out of vehicles

Great team effort, with boar studs no news is good news
Very self-sufficient
High retention rates with their teams – always addressing things timely with any questions/concerns that arise and taking partners where needed

Purchasing and Warehouse

It’s been very busy and the attitudes and can-do efforts are very appreciated
We also appreciate their quick turnaround on pulling orders and flexibility to get us what we need
Thank you for your willingness to bring in new/different supplies to ensure we have the tool and resources to get the job done

Thank you for putting up with large daily orders and also helping with emergency orders when needed
Working with outside breed projects and helping get vaccines and supplies for those projects
Helping get additional supplies for depops and PED clean ups

Michelle for being flexible to set supplies out at the end of the day
For all their efforts implementing all the biosecurity changes with deliveries and supply entry
Dropping what they’re doing to pull meds when needed and keeping meds on the shelf for when we need it
Outstanding response to PO requests, especially emergency ones

Joke of the Week

What instrument do pigs like to play in a band?

Pigcussion!

This Week's Years of Service

Check out all of the employees below celebrating their work anniversaries this week and last week. If you see these folks out and about, be sure to congratulate them!

30 Years

Darian Fisher, Breeding Department Head GDU 948 Marton/Hunt

Dave Winters, Gene Transfer Center Manager Boar 002 Qualley

6 Years

Manuel Garcia Juarez, Breeding Department Head Sow 044 Hooper

Chad Carver, Sow Farm Manager Sow 041 Upland

Claudia Mora Acosta, Assistant Farrowing Department Head Sow 113

5 Years

Stanley Weeks, Breeding Department Head Sow 007 Jacobson

Bailey Cave, Farrowing Department Head Sow 015 Jernquist

4 Years

Martin Yanez Zuniga, Animal Breeder Sow 033 Jamestown

Antonio Rodriguez Lopez, Breeding Department Head Sow 004 Kramer Sow

Ana Rodriguez Santa Cruz, Animal Breeder Sow 026 Fonken

3 Years

Mayra Rodriguez Galvan, Newborn Pig Specialist Sow 013 Miller

Carlos Villalvazo Puente, Animal Breeder Sow 112

Adrian Murillo Rodriguez, Animal Breeder Sow 013 Miller

Andrea Ruiz Campos, Sow Farm Manager Sow 022 Cartwright

2 Years

Antonio Lopez Villarino, Animal Breeder GDU 733 Saratoga

Geovanna Utley, Heat Check/AI Specialist Sow 019 Union

Salvador Chavez Duenas, Animal Breeder GDU 948 Marton/Hunt

Andrea Garcia Aguilar, Animal Breeder Sow 039 Yale

Kevin Platt, Payroll & Benefits Manager

1 Year

Zachary Hanson, Animal Caretaker Sow 023 Erickson

Brittanie Garza, Animal Caretaker Sow 001 Cadillac

Jakob Johnson, Animal Caretaker Sow 011 Stockdale

Internal Job Openings

Looking for a new role within Iowa Select Farms? Check out what you may have missed last week. To see a list of our current and new job openings and information on applying, click here or contact Human Resources at 641-648-4479.

On-Call Maintenance Schedule

Stay up-to-date with the on-call maintenance schedule and never lose track of its location. This schedule can be found here, and it will continually be updated in real-time.