The Masters

May 15, 2007 12:00 PM

Allen E. Christian

Coach, teacher, mentor

Al Christian is closing in on five decades of service to Iowa State University (ISU) as herdsman of the Swine Teaching Farm. Soon to be 73, his enthusiasm for the job has not waned since he arrived in 1959.

From a close-knit family, the Christian children's birth order included a pair of boys, Al and Lauren, a sister in the middle, then another pair of boys, Duane and Dean. The pairs became playmates.

“My poor sister was alone. She didn't become a tomboy, although she had every opportunity to do so,” says Al, with his characteristic grin.

The Christian name, in many respects, is synonymous with the pork industry. Family patriarch, Francis, was a widely respected Duroc breeder; Lauren became an internationally renowned swine geneticist; and Duane and Dean were active in the production and marketing of purebred swine.

Raised on a diversified farm near LaPorte City, IA, the Christian children were exposed to purebred livestock at an early age. “My father never really instructed us on what kind of pigs we should like,” Al remembers. “But he gave us an opportunity for input, and he was wise enough to allow us to be a part of things.”

Their 4-H club work quickly centered on swine projects. “Lauren actually got hooked quicker than I did,” Al says. “But it wasn't long before I got hooked, too. We loved the competitive nature of the county and state fairs.”

As fate would have it, the very first county fair judge Christian faced was Wilbur Plager, a widely known swine judge and pork industry leader. At just 12 years of age, he won the championship ribbons in the Duroc boar, gilt and litter divisions.

“This one-armed judge, Mr. Plager, made quite an impression on me,” he recalls. “And as time went on, I became kind of a student of his philosophy. He was a radical thinker; he could really stimulate your thoughts in an old barnyard fashion. He was one of those guys you don't forget, and over the years he became one of my mentors.”

As he approached high school graduation, Christian also developed an interest in becoming a high school teacher and coach. He received a scholarship to a small college, but as the time drew near, he felt reluctant to abandon his true interest — pigs.

He shifted his focus back to farming and raising purebred hogs. Uncle Sam had other ideas, however, and he was soon drafted.

With his military obligation fulfilled in the fall of 1958, Christian returned to the home farm, rented some land and took a job at the John Deere plant. Land prices and rental costs climbed, and it looked increasingly unlikely that the home farm would support two families.

Brother Lauren, then attending graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, had worked at the ISU Swine Teaching farm while getting his B.S. degree and knew that the herdsman, Merle Shearer, was leaving for health reasons. The ISU herd had a handful of five different breeds and actively competed at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago. Christian was interested.

He interviewed for the job in the summer of 1959. In September, Christian and his wife, Shirley, moved to Ames, IA, where he launched his career as swine herdsman.

Christian dug into the challenge of improving the quality of the swine herd as a series of administrative changes took place in the animal science department. In 1965, Lauren Christian joined the ISU animal science staff and became Al's immediate supervisor. The Christian brothers were once again a team.

The Christians and Ed Kline teamed up on a special project in which they took the frozen carcasses of a fat, low-grade market hog and a modern meat-type hog and cut them into cross sections to illustrate the differences that using quality genetics could make. Photos of the cross-sections were used widely throughout the pork industry in the '60s and '70s.

An unpleasant surprise also awaited those in the race to develop the meat type hog. It came in the form of a stress gene. Christian joined that race, focusing on breeding lean, heavy-muscled hogs in the ISU herd.

Occasionally, an extremely heavy-muscled pig would become rigid and their skin would get blotchy. Often, they would die. “Whenever we posted them, the muscle was always white and the pigs were always rigid,” Christian remembers.

David Topel and Lauren Christian worked hard to identify the cause of this malady, eventually developing a test to identify the presence of the stress gene.

The ISU herdsman takes some credit for that discovery. “I chided my brother and Dr. Topel about that, reminding them that if I hadn't been breeding for those little, heavy-muscled hogs, they never would have discovered that gene,” he says, with his tongue placed firmly in his cheek.

Sought-After Judge

Throughout the years, Christian became a much sought-after swine judge. He has judged national-type conferences of the eight major breeds, many state fair shows, every major junior swine show in the United States, hundreds of county fairs, plus swine shows in Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and South Africa.

Christian also brought significant recognition to the ISU Teaching Farm by producing countless truckload champions, plus many market and breeding division winners at state fairs, type conferences and the National Barrow Show. Berkshires, Durocs, Hampshires, Landrace and Yorkshires are currently represented in the 100 plus sow herd.

“We try to provide a little bit of selection. I'm concerned about the generations coming up losing track of certain genetic lines. The role of purebred genetics in swine production is pretty damned important,” Christian emphasizes.

Glancing back over the nearly five decades of genetic and type changes, Christian says the pigs of the '90s come closest to the “ideal.”

“Prior to the recent trends we've seen in the show pig business, I really think we weren't too far from having the ideal hog,” he says. “We had come through so many different eras of change. I kept telling people that we were getting hogs way too lean. It hurt their production.

“But even after all the changes we've gone through, there are still definite breed differences. That's good, because you never know when you're going to need certain traits,” he says.

Christian has confidence that pork producers will be able to meet such challenges as moving away from gestation stalls or breeding more efficient hogs able to cope with high corn prices.

“We've got such a resilient industry. We adapt to change so rapidly, so well. There are so many innovative people out there that I'm sure we'll do the research and develop the systems that will solve some of these problems.”

Pig Evangelists Needed

“We've got to have a few (swine) evangelists out there, telling the history, reminding people of the experiences we've had and telling them what might be in store,” Christian says.

He sees a difference in the students that come through the university's animal science curriculum. Fewer have purebred backgrounds. Many are urban kids with pre-veterinary or agri-business ambitions.

“That's where we come in. It's why I think livestock at a university is a really important ingredient in the educational process,” he emphasizes.

His early ambitions to be a teacher and a coach have been channeled toward his relationship with ISU students. During the school year, 7-8 students work part-time in the teaching herd; 3-4 help in the summer months.

“Those kids are probably the reason I'm still here,” he says earnestly. “I enjoy watching them develop, seeing their sincere desire to learn, and in some small way, molding them a little bit, encouraging them, reinforcing them. It makes me feel good.”

He has some guiding principles for young people interested in the pork industry:

“Watch for opportunities. But, you have to know where you're at and where you think you want to be in order to take advantage of them.

“Be innovative in your thoughts;

“Be able to dream and develop;

“Be practical so you know what could work, what might not;

“Find your fit;

“Resolve to make whatever you're going to do — better.

“Probably the best advice I ever received also reflects the way we were brought up — abide by the golden rule,” he says. “If you're as lucky as I was to find a little niche to work on over the years, you will be a happy person.”

Would he change anything? “Sure, I'd change a few things, but I'd still want to be where I am right now,” he says.

As he nears the hallmark 50th year, an anniversary considered to be “golden,” Al Christian gives no hint of taking down his shingle. The Iowa State students and faculty will be all the better for his continued services.
— Dale Miller, Editor