In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) | |
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The Iowa State Fair is a tradition unlike any other. At Iowa Select Farms, we're proud to provide our employees, contracted site managers and their families the opportunity to enjoy a day at the Iowa State Fair. This year's Iowa State Fair Family Days are Friday, August 9th and Friday, August 16th.
Sign up will be done exclusively using Tools. On your Tools homepage, the sign-up prompt appears on the left hand side under the "Company Events" drop down.
Please check with your manager or supervisor that the date you've picked to attend the fair is okay. It's important that our farms are able to continue operating while offering this as an opportunity to you.
Employees: Iowa Select Farms provides day passes and coupon packets for employees and your immediate family members or one guest if you are single. We also have $50 in cash per employee to offset fair expenses.
Contractors: Iowa Select Farms offers contracted site managers (person whose name appears on the contract) up to four tickets and food coupon packs. You are free to enjoy any day of the 2024 fair.
This year, we will not be offering t-shirts but the Ice Cream Social will take place! We'll be offering ice cream, face painting and caricature artists. The Ice Cream Social and registration are merging in both time of day and location.
Registration: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Ice Cream Social: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Both at the Alliant Landing
Additional tickets for both employees and contracted site managers can be purchased in advance at a discounted rate of $11 for ages 12 and over and $7 for ages 6-11. Children 5 and under are free.
Payment for extra tickets must be received before you will get access to the tickets. Please drop it off at the Iowa Falls office or send the payment here:
Iowa Select Farms
Attn: Iowa State Fair
811 South Oak Street
Iowa Falls, IA 50126
For more information, please read our Q&A forms below. Any questions or issues with registration can be submitted to events@iowaselect.com.
Employee Q&A English
Employee Q&A Spanish
Contractor Q&A English
Contractor Q&A Spanish
Registration is due by Friday, July 26th. See you at the fair!
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Sow 16 Earns SelectPride
“This team’s work ethic is unmatched,” said Joe Becker, manager of Parker Sow Farm near Diagonal. “It’s a team effort, and we strive to do the right thing every day on our farm.”
Joe reflects on his Sow 16 team, which recently earned the prestigious SelectPride “Top Farm” award for outstanding performance earlier this year. This recognition is not unfamiliar to the Parker team. Since the inception of the SelectPride program, the farm has achieved top ten rankings 21 times, with five being in the number one spot.
Congratulations to Joe Becker, Paige Auffert, Javier Godinez Ledezma, Rox Gutierrez Diaz, LeRoy Jensen, Maria Concepción Lopez Navarrete, Jesus Ramos Berrelleza, and Valeria Rodriguez Hernandez!
"We've formed a strong bond," he said. "What makes Sow 16 unique is our culture. We've become like a family here. We support each other, celebrate together, and always help each other out."
Phillip Barncastle, the farm's supervisor, highlights their focus on biosecurity and production well-being as key drivers of their success. “Their attention to safety, biosecurity, and animal care is fundamental and lays the groundwork for achieving their farm targets,” he said. “There are a lot of good people here. They can have fun, and performance follows.”
Phillip also praises Joe's passion and leadership, which shines daily at the farm. “Joe knows how to raise pigs,” he said. “But more importantly, he knows how to connect with people. He does a great job of involving everyone.”
Joe has been a loyal Iowa Select Farms employee for 16 years and admires the company's culture and values. “I appreciate the leadership behind Iowa Select Farms,” said Joe. “It’s a great company with even better people.”
Following their recent success, Joe is determined to maintain his team’s momentum. Every team member plays an integral role. As for the future, Joe says they will continue to provide excellent pig care and teamwork while having a little fun!
Way to go, Sow 16 team!
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Sow 2
Sow 3 – 14 in a row
Sow 4 – 12 in a row
Sow 5
Sow 8
Sow 9 – 14 in a row
Sow 12 – 10 in a row
Sow 14
Sow 18
Sow 19 – 21 in a row
Sow 20 – 11 in a row
Sow 21 – 5 in a row
Sow 22
Sow 23
Sow 24 – 3 in a row
Sow 26 – 4 in a row
Sow 27
Sow 28 – 3 in a row
Sow 29
Sow 30 – 28 in a row
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Sow 34 - 3 in a row
Sow 35 – 17 in a row
Sow 36
Sow 37 – 6 in a row
Sow 42 – 3 in a row
Sow 112 – 7 in a row
Sow 114 – 5 in a row
Sow 116
Sow 117 – 19 in a row
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Ragbrai Bike Race is July 20-27: What You Need to Know
Ragbrai is a state-wide, weeklong bike race that takes place every July in Iowa. Thousands of bikers and spectators gather for all or parts of the race. This event could bring unwanted visitors within proximity of several of our farms. Please be extra vigilant during this week for activity at your farm.
Consider how your farm looks to a citizen from the road and potentially from the air, as drones are becoming popular during this event.
Please print it off, read the PDF below, and share this information with your teams.
English PDF
Spanish PDF
Please stay tuned and monitor your surroundings. If you have any issues or concerns, please contact Chris Morgan, Director of Security, at cmorgan@iowaselect.com or 641-531-7768.
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SwineSight 2024 Station Recap--Physical Environment
Completing chores and daily observations is a critical time in the barns where we as caretakers really execute Top-Notch Pig Care. From observing each individual pig, checking feeders and waterers, and detecting facility issues we confirm that our pigs' environment is set up for them to thrive.
When walking through the barns, we as caretakers thoroughly evaluate the animals, environment, and equipment. Our evaluations include checking:
- Pigs' eating and drinking habits, sleeping patterns, and signs that they are comfortable and healthy.
- The environment at the pig and barn level to ensure temperatures and air quality is correct.
- Fans, flooring, feeders, waterers, curtains, and other equipment to ensure they work correctly.
Conducting this full assessment of the pig's environment allows us to catch things sooner and be more proactive to keeping the pigs comfortable.
Remember- You are the foundation of animal care! Always be a good host to our guests, the pigs!
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215 Essential Kits Distributed During Haul out Hunger
In addition to the ground pork, food pantries and churches on our Haul out Hunger routes this summer also received a Henry's Heroes essential bag. This bag was curated to provide vital support to those in need. The kits were fully equipped with diapers, wipes, bottles, pacifiers, soap, toothbrush sets, and diaper rash cream.
Henry's Heroes is on a mission to empower Iowa's children. The program annually evolves to meet the needs of Iowa Select Farms homegrown Iowa communities.
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Appreciation!
Kerry Sweeney appreciates Dan Childs, Herb Mittelstadt, Alex Anderson, Wes Mathany, Jerry Ackerman, and Jerry Brown for all their hard work on the skills-based training they've completed with their teams over the last 2 months.
Todd Neff appreciates the Wean-to-Market team and their effort in managing/preventing bug bites in our system
Ron Rush appreciates Herb Mittelstadt for helping with a generator at Melrose.
Ron Rush appreciates Nick Benge's constant communication with the finishing supervisors, updates on diagnostics, time spent in the barn with supervisors and scheduling.
Ron Rush appreciates the finishing supervisors' feedback and communication with the sow farms on wean pig quality.
Do you want to give thanks to someone in the Weekly Update? Please send it to Abby Fausch at afausch@iowaselect.com.
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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 Health Services and Human Resources team.
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- Shout out to Katie for tracking market PED and helping communicate the reduction
- Thanks for all your help with PRRs and MHP eliminations
- Shout out to Nick for taking ownership of the PRRS eliminations at S2, S4, S6
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- Thanks for always being there to help us with questions that come up with health challenges and listen to all our details, ideas and questions
- Getting on farms with supervisors to help continue training
- Sorting through the daily GDU/Multiplication test results
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- Response on diagnostic results
- Helping with the PED clean-ups
- Shout out to Anne for leading up the charge on the clean-up of the multiplication sites
- All their efforts to find solutions beyond PRRS
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- Staffing is tough, but we see what this team is doing and couldn’t be more thankful to have the team we do in place working diligently in a very challenging labor market
- Helping and coordinating all the promotional interviews and making sure we get the appropriate feedback and paperwork taken care of for all candidates
- Hiring and coordinating all the H2As every year – they are a huge help!
- Always dealing with employee issues – being open to any and all situations daily that pop up
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- A great resource for just about everything, if I don’t know where to go with a question I start with them
- There have been a variety of issues and the gals continue to knock it out of the park
- Thank you for helping the maintenance team work through some structure changes and developing skills-based training. They always ask the right questions to think of all perspectives when implementing new processes
- I appreciate how hard they work to fill all our open positions – shout out to Alicia for all your help with transport
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- Helping with the screening process for potential contractors
- Helping onboarding new employees through orientations and being a friendly welcome to the company
- Thank you for helping with our most important asset – our people
- For their focus on trying to find the right fit and retaining our current employees
- Helping us bring some good supervisor candidates for WTM
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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.
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Joke of the Week
What do pigs call a hot dog and beer?
Frank and Stein!
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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!
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29 Years
Doug Heaberlin, GTC Specialist Boar 005 Cheers
28 Years
Andy Riniker, Gene Transfer Center Manager Boar 005 Cheers
26 Years
Don Hunt, Sow Farm Supervisor
19 Years
Tysen Abell, Multiplication Supervisor
Roy Alden, Breeding Department Head GDU 125 Jensen
17 Years
Eric Buhman, CDL Driver
14 Years
Eric Bottorff, IT Senior Field Technician
Chris Riedell, Sr. IT Low Voltage Technician
13 Years
Tracey McPherson, Farrowing Department Head Sow 003 Stumme
12 Years
Cassandra Jass, Director of Production Well Being
Jose Gomez Cerda, Animal Caretaker GDU 537 Lorimor
10 Years
Hunter Carmichael, Breeding Department Head Sow 002 Rout
8 Years
Jessica Jones, Animal Caretaker Multiplication 927 Dodge
7 Years
Logan Thomas, Maintenance Technician - Wean to Market
Nick Johansen, Assistant Compliance Officer/GIS Coordinator
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6 Years
Douglas Barnhard, Animal Caretaker Sow 030 Popcorn
Casey Still, GTC Assistant Manager Boar 005 Cheers
Sean Green, Newborn Pig Specialist Sow 037 Primrose
5 Years
Shawn Lents, Director of Supply Chain Management
4 Years
Bruno Palma Mejia, Sow Farm Manager Sow 017 Ochylski
Ana Ovando Ramirez, Newborn Pig Specialist Sow 003 Stumme
Daniel Pena Avila, Newborn Pig Specialist Sow 003 Stumme
3 Years
Cody Banks, Maintenance Technician - Wean to Market
Beto Ramirez Tule, Assistant
Alicia Johnson, Accounts Payable Specialist
Agustin Gallegos Diaz, Assistant Breeding Department Head Sow 026 Fonken
2 Years
Brookelyn Hoeppner, Heat Check/AI Specialist Sow 031 Holstein
Haley Forbes, Animal Caretaker
Andres Rojas Dominguez, Heat Check/AI Specialist Sow 006 Peterson
Lucero Lazaro Lopez, Animal Breeder Sow 028 Ringgold Sows
Deisi Ramirez Rios, Animal Breeder Sow 026 Fonken
1 Year
Jamie Horbach, Director of Public Affairs
Javier Aguilar Aguilar, Animal Breeder Sow 034 Derby
Sonia Centeno Quiab, Animal Breeder Sow 015 Jernquist Sow
Karen Alejandra Virgen Garcia, Animal Breeder Sow 008
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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.
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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.
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