Saturday, May 18, 2013

An Agricultural Disneyland

This week at Legacy Farms I continued to do work more in production helping with the breeding, feeding, vaccinating and other things that go into a sow farm. I'm starting to understand how the pen layout works, breeding rotations and many other important parts of the system. 

On Tuesday, myself and the two other interns met with the president and vice-president of Belstra Milling Group (Legacy Farms) and many employees from Fair Oaks Farms management team. We discussed the history of Belstra and Fair Oaks, then talked about the Pig Adventure and all the exciting things that are going into the farm. 

With the official opening for tours coming in August, I began to wonder this week why I was here for my internship as well as what I could provide to them. On Tuesday that all became clearer. I am valuable to both organizations because I have a rich history in pork production, have a great passion for telling the story of pig farmers, and I share many of the values that these companies have. 

The main purpose of my internship is to use my knowledge, experience, and passion of pork to help train the people who will be staffed full time in the Pig Adventure. Many private tours will be given in the coming months to help understand how people will flow through the building, the questions that people may ask, and how to communicate with the public. 

Fair Oaks Farms really is the Disneyland of agriculture. From the dairy to the pig barn, the purpose of everything on the farm is to be fully functioning, but provide a lifetime of memories, entertainment and education. The experience is designed to be entertaining, and the employees are the cast of the show, along with the main characters, the livestock! 

I honestly believe that this adventure will prove to be a game changer for the pork industry. The industry will learn so much about consumer perception and concerns and the consumer will get to be a part of the industry. We want to show them how life is on a pig farm. I am glad to be a part of the adventure and proud to have such an important role helping teach others. 

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