News | Pipestone

Burke Farms: Big Stone Marketing Producer Highlight

Producer: Burke Farms, Tom and Patti Burke Location: Janesville, MN Burke Farms is a wean-to-finish swine operation, and a corn and soybean crop farm. The farm started with Tom Burke’s father, but later grew, passing the farm to the future generation. Today, Tom and his brother, Larry, continue the family legacy …

SwineTime Podcast Episode 27: Sharing the Pig Farming Story through TikTok

Dr. Cara Haden, a PIPESTONE pig vet located in Independence, IA, took a social media journey that has helped educate thousands of people. In October 2020, Cara created a TikTok account to share pig farming content. Her goals remain to educate the public on where their pork comes from as well as showcase how much …

Old Assets: Retain, Replace or Remodel?

Facilities play a large role in the health of your pigs and profitability of your pig business. As assets age, it’s important to evaluate your best facility strategy moving forward: retain, replace or remodel. Below are some considerations to take into account when making your decision. If your answer was “no” for …

Unintended Consequences of Well-Intentioned Employers

While this is not an exhaustive list for employers, it is a sampling of the most common mis-steps well-intentioned employers make as they work through their day-to-day responsibilities of running a business and employing a team. 1. Unrealistic Expectations Employers often set their expectations of employees high to encourage workplace efficiency …

Using KPI’s to Understand the Impact of Production Decisions

Money. The driving factor at the end of the day to make sure bills are paid and food is on the table. Everything comes at a cost, especially change within your family farm operation. Suggested changes are often quickly dismissed because capital outlay is high. Utilizing Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) in your operation can help …