Progressive Swine Technologies
In The News
Pork producers need to understand interconnectivity
By TERRY ANDERSON, The Prairie Star
Monday, March 5, 2007 1:20 PM MST
UNADILLA, NE - Jim Pillen knows something about passion. He played football for Tom Osborne at Nebraska, lettering three seasons, twice earning All-Big 8 honors on the field and in the classroom, and was an academic All-American.
After his playing days, his lifelong interest in animals led to his veterinary medicine degree at Kansas State.
In the 1990s, he started Progressive Swine Technologies, based in Columbus, Neb., and added DanBred genetics, a Danish pig breeding program four years ago. PST has become one of the largest swine production companies in North America. It has gene centers, reproductive and finisher sites and contract finishers, mostly in the eastern half of Nebraska and southern South Dakota.
His passion for the industry and for rural America is clear. "We have to know what we are good at, what we have a passion for and focus on it," he told those attending the Southeast Farmers and Ranchers College Workshop in Unadilla. "Work is the nastiest four-letter word. We've got to feel good in what we do."
Pillen said he is passionate about rural Nebraska, and the protein raised in pork can do a lot to help the rural areas.
"We all need to do a better job looking in the mirror to see what reality really is," he said. "Are we creating excitement in the next generation? This nonsense of kids going to the university and going to the big city is ridiculous. The action is here. The best and brightest are right here. The value systems and quality of life are huge."
Much of the opportunities pig producers face depend on their approach to the industry. He said that 95 percent of the problems in the industry deal with what producers do or don't do.
"We haven't been quick enough to be good business people," he said. "If we can't measure it, how can we know where we're at?
We're leaving a lot of low-hanging fruit on the tree."
Producing the best pig isn't a when-it's-convenient proposition, he said. "If we don't take care of that pig every day, we've got problems," he said.
"It takes an astute mind."
Producers have to create a system that maximizes pounds produced from square footage on capital invested, he said, and the best system for him may not be the best for someone else.
It takes discipline. Pillen said Coach Osborne would tell his players before they headed to the football field that they could make one of two choices: to get better or to get worse.
He said pork producers need to understand the interconnectivity of people, pigs and the business.
"Is every decision we make good for all three?" he asked. "Can we discipline ourselves to do what's good for all three?"
The U.S. pork industry is not disciplined, he said. "The good news is there's opportunity, but we have to have gas in our tank."
Pillen likes the prospects for pork. With U.S. population at 300 million and Mexico with 100 million, there are plenty of mouths to feed.
World population continues to expand, and with enough economic activity, every person on the planet will be able to eat protein, he said.
With expectations of 10.5 billion people on earth in 2050, the economic opportunity is incredible, he said.
"What will it take to feed the planet in 45 years?" he asked. "If we're still at 150 bushels (of corn) an acre, we're going to need to find two more planets."
Any changes aren't going to happen overnight, he said. "But if you're jacked up about what you're doing, grassroots agriculture is where it's at. We have to get young people excited about our business."
"It's a phenomenal opportunity. How so lucky we are to be a part of this."