“Up until about 1990, a pig was a pig,” states Dykhuis. “If it had four legs and a tail, that's all that mattered. They didn't measure feed conversion or average daily gain.

“But all of that changed in the early '90s. Leannesss and feed conversion became important. Just like now, feed conversion is in vogue again — out of necessity.”

In 1991, the elder Dykhuis was ready to retire, so Bob bought the original herd. In 1995, he decided to expand to 2,500 sows. He learned artificial insemination, adopted the new multi-site production philosophy and signed up his first group of contract finishers.

“Contract finishing embeds in your mind what a pig space is worth because you are paying for it,” he reinforces. “We never charged ourselves for pig space before. I soon realized, to make these buildings work, you've got to have pig flow to turn them.”

By the mid '90s, Dykhuis felt “bullet proof.” But then PRRS hit and the relearning process started all over again. “PRRS was a huge thing that shaped the industry; at least it did for us,” he attests. “First, we tried to treat and treat, but usually there were secondary pathogens involved. We tried parity segregation.”

Since 2001, Dykhuis has fine-tuned a project where gilts are raised and bred in contract wean-to-finish barns, then moved to three different all-in, all-out gestation barns. Finally, they are moved to one of three farrowing-only sites. At weaning, the sows are moved to one of five herds that are on a rotational depopulation program. “It has stabilized PRRS in our system,” he says.

In recent years, most of Dykhuis Farms' growth has come from purchasing and remodeling existing facilities. “In a sense, we have decommissioned some of the animal units. I think if you asked people, most would say they appreciated that we are reinvesting and cleaning up these places.” Often, they are converted to sow units, which have fewer odors than finishers.

“It's important to have the proper design, either stalls or pens that keep themselves clean. You don't want the manure just lying there on partial slats, because it will stink,” he adds.

Remodeling projects have focused on pen gestation instead of stalls for sows. “I like stalls, but I don't think we are going to be able to keep them,” he says. About three years ago, he and his daughter, Erin, remodeled a barn to house sows in stalls the first 30 days after weaning, then group them 50/pen. Steel feed-drop pipes are spaced every 36 in. along outside walls to allow two sows to eat at each drop. Sows are fed twice daily. “You have to manage them differently, but it can be done,” he reassures.

“I think the challenge that the industry faces is protecting the use of stalls the first 30 days (after weaning). Those 30 days are really important. We don't want to lose that,” he states.

Over 90% of Dykhuis Farms' annual production is raised by contract finishers, with more and more destined for Indiana. “With the ethanol situation, we don't mind being in a few different corn production areas, plus it puts us closer to the packing plant,” he explains.

Hogs are sold predominantly to Tyson Foods in Logansport, IN.

Dykhuis looks back and marvels at the opportunities the last 25 years have offered him. He gives a great deal of the credit for his business acumen to the county, state and national pork producer groups he's been involved with. “They have allowed me to develop as a leader — for free,” he says. He credits his work as chairman of the state's pseudorabies eradication committee for giving him the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the best swine veterinarians in the country.

“You have to be involved in your industry,” he emphasizes. “First of all, to gauge how the industry is changing. I have lots of friends who are no longer farming who tried to do a better and better job of how they did it 10 years before. Meanwhile, things like multi-site production, virus management, nutritional advances, weaning age and gestation stalls are all big deals that will not hit you if you don't leave the farm.

“You have to be with people and learn. You can't always plan that, because you don't know when you're going to bump into a person who has an idea that can make a difference to you or your operation.

“Our mission statement is ‘to glorify God through careful and deliberate use of resources,’” he explains. “I see things as a covenantal community. We are endowed with gifts as a group of people. If we work together and use our gifts, that community will be enhanced. I really believe that. In a sense, some of the success of the community is on everyone's shoulders. I see my children understanding that and I think that's healthy. To watch kids change and be responsible is a wonderful thing for a parent. We can talk about the pigs and all of that, but my five children are pretty special. Although it was a team effort, my wife took really good care of our kids.”
— Dale Miller, Editor

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