Pork Producer, Manure Hauler, Grill Master
Ted Stout started raising pigs in 1993 as a way to diversify his business.
“Diversification in agriculture is important,” he said.
Stout and his wife, Joan, as well as one of their sons and his family, live on the family farm site west of Hatfield that his grandparents established in 1907. It was there that he grew up and learned to farm from his father, Robert.
“I pretty much followed my dad around every day if I could,” Stout said. “I never was in the house. I pretty much was with him all the time.”
Stout started farming with his father when he was a senior in high school. Today, he grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa on around 1,200 acres of land and raises around 4,400 pigs.
Stout is a contract grower for Spronk Brothers. He receives young pigs, and feeds and raises them until they’re ready to be sent to market. He said contracting was a way for him to get into the business with less start-up costs than he would have had on his own.
“When I first got into it I borrowed every dime to build the two pig barns,” he said. “I didn’t have any money. It was a 10-year payback. It worked well.”
Stout now has three barns — two 1,000-head capacity barns that he built in 1993 and 1994, and a 2,400-head capacity barn built in 2005. All his barns are located on the same half-section on which he lives.
To read our feature story please click on the following link:
http://farmmarketnews.com/feature-story
“Diversification in agriculture is important,” he said.
Stout and his wife, Joan, as well as one of their sons and his family, live on the family farm site west of Hatfield that his grandparents established in 1907. It was there that he grew up and learned to farm from his father, Robert.
“I pretty much followed my dad around every day if I could,” Stout said. “I never was in the house. I pretty much was with him all the time.”
Stout started farming with his father when he was a senior in high school. Today, he grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa on around 1,200 acres of land and raises around 4,400 pigs.
Stout is a contract grower for Spronk Brothers. He receives young pigs, and feeds and raises them until they’re ready to be sent to market. He said contracting was a way for him to get into the business with less start-up costs than he would have had on his own.
“When I first got into it I borrowed every dime to build the two pig barns,” he said. “I didn’t have any money. It was a 10-year payback. It worked well.”
Stout now has three barns — two 1,000-head capacity barns that he built in 1993 and 1994, and a 2,400-head capacity barn built in 2005. All his barns are located on the same half-section on which he lives.
To read our feature story please click on the following link:
http://farmmarketnews.com/feature-story
