My name is Katie. About a year and a half ago I gave up my corporate 8-5 job in Des Moines to help my family run a startup business called PigEasy. My work station went from a cubicle and head set to a laptop, briefcase and kitchen table. It’s been an exciting ride.
So, who’s involved?
Dave
Dad
(Dave) is the brains behind both Klocke Farms and PigEasy. He has always been
an intuitive pig guy who doesn’t have any hobbies, unless you want to count
inventing things. If you asked him what
his idea of a perfect Saturday is, he would answer a quiet shop and something
to create.
Growing
up on the heels of his father, Herbert, Dad always knew he wanted to be a
farmer himself. It has been said that
Grandpa Herbert really didn’t have much of a passion for the crop side of
farming or the mechanics of all the equipment, but loved working with
livestock. Dad was working in the shop and planting corn by the time he reached
double digits and shared in Grandpa Herbert’s love of caring for livestock, the
hogs particularly.
After
high school, Dad enrolled in an agricultural program at Iowa State University.
He didn’t get the opportunity to finish, as Grandpa Herbert suffered a
debilitating stroke while Dad was a sophomore and passed away that fall. Dad left college soon after to return to the
family farm.
Dad,
along with his brother, Dennis, adapted their current operation of purebred
swine breeding stock to an eventual 2700 head farrow to wean farm that Dad still owns and operates today.
While
he hasn’t always held the title of inventor and patent holder, Dad has always
created or “retrofitted” tools and items to make the process better or easier. He has never accepted an
inefficiency or problem as is and continues to develop ways to make pork
production more efficient and easier for the producer and for the pig.
You
will see Dad at trade shows and events with me. He enjoys it because he gets to
talk pigs with fellow producers… oh yeah, and promote PigEasy products too.
Ben
Ben
is the oldest Klocke kid. He knew he was going to be a farmer from the moment
he could walk. During harvest season,
Ben would beg Mom and Dad to let him stay home from school so he could help out
and run the grain cart.
Today,
Ben runs the day to day operations of the farm and coordinates the manufacturing
and shipping of PigEasy products.
Because
of Ben and his ability to take care of much of the farming operation, Dad and I
are able to travel and promote PigEasy. We couldn’t have both Klocke Farms and
PigEasy without him.
Karen
Mom
(Karen) is our self-proclaimed OSHA representative, but her responsibilities
don’t end there. She is also PigEasy and Klocke Farms’ CFO, office
administrator, HR department, Controller, Accounting Specialist, Insurance
procurer, rock picker-upper, harvest errand runner, dog walker, ambulance
driver…. I think this list just scratches the surface.
Mom
made the decision to leave her work as a recreational therapist when we were
teenagers to be more available to Dad and the farming operation. Thank
goodness, because if we were to hire out all that she does, we would have gone
broke a long time ago!
Mary & Ross
Mary
and Ross are the two younger Klocke kids. Mary graduated from Mount Mercy with
her BSN and is a NICU nurse in Des Moines. When she’s not saving babies, she’s
cuddling up with her puppy, Reese, and husband, Nick, in Ankeny.
Ross
is a senior at the University of Northern Iowa and will be graduating this
spring with a degree in Bio-Med. While we couldn’t talk him into veterinary medicine,
he'll be heading to medical school in the coming year. 
Mary
and Ross are not just our medical consultants. On their days off, you will find
them at trade shows and company events helping to promote PigEasy.Clint & Nick
They
call themselves The Outlaws. My husband, Clint, and Mary’s husband, Nick, also
get involved in Klocke Farms and PigEasy. When Nick isn’t selling Capital City equipment, he can be seen running the PipePik at trade shows. Clint is a Purchasing
Manager during the day, a Captain in the Iowa National Guard on weekends, and a
PigEasy consultant and master field tiller during his free time. Dad must have trained us well; marry guys who
can drive a tractor!
Me
It
wasn’t until my senior year that I knew I wanted to work in the agricultural
industry. That fall, I enrolled in a wellness
course that was required to graduate. On the day they went over protein and
human health, the professor chose to show videos of animal abuse and made
claims that in order buy meat that was healthy and to avoid buying meat from farms that abuse animals, you
must choose free range, organic, antibiotic free and hormone free (not
possible!) at the grocery store. I got
angry, called Dad, called the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers and then
wrote an email to my professor requesting time in front of the class to present
the inaccuracies of her message and to talk about my personal experience being
raised on a hog farm. She gave me 20
minutes (woohoo!) and I think I changed some people’s minds. That was the day I
realized what my passion is.
As
for PigEasy, my title says Marketing and Sales, but it’s really an all-in-all
fielding and dispersing of PigEasy information. I love it.
Why a Blog?
Often Dad and I talk about our observations and successes or find an article or theory that really goes hand in hand with what we are
promoting, but we don’t know how to best communicate this information to fellow pork
producers and industry professionals. We could post it to social media, but it’s
tough to get that type of a message out in 250 characters or less.
Additionally, with over 50 years of experience Dad has a few tricks up his sleeve in general
with pork production, and we would love to pass that on to anyone it would
help.
So
what’s this blog going to be about? It’s going to be about pork production,
farming, agricultural advocacy, business and most importantly, family; because
it all starts and ends with family, right?
Until
next time,
Katie
“Other
things may change us, but we start and end with family.” – Anthony Brandt
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