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Olsburg man runs smaller farm operation
OLSBURG, Kan. (AP)--Craig Good has gone against a trend of getting bigger in the hog business.
Since 1981, he has focused on being a breeder of purebred Duroc and Yorkshire pigs.
He has about 70 purebred sows and as many as 500 pigs on the farm at any one time. Duroc is a red breed, and Yorkshire is a white breed.
Yet most hog farms in Kansas have more than 5,000 head, and many have more than 25,000 head.
Good Farms also has corn, soybeans and 100 purebred Angus cows.
Not a hobby farm, Good Farms is an intensely managed operation where Good is meticulous about cleanliness to maintain the health and safety of the herd. The farm receives regular inspections to maintain its National SPF Swine Accreditation--a standard that helps Good market his breeder pigs.
"I like raising pigs, but the real challenge is striving to make the next generation better than the preceding one," Good said.
Good was born and raised in Manhattan. His parents were from Ohio but moved to Kansas in 1947 so his father, Don Good, could take a job as an animal science professor at Kansas State University. Don Good, who has a Ph.D., is the former head of the animal science department at Kansas State.
"Raising purebred livestock is in my blood," Craig Good said. "I started at a young age in 4-H."
He graduated from Kansas State in 1975 and then worked five years for a purebred swine breeder and producer named Fred Germann, of Dwight. Germann was his mentor and taught him a lot about raising breeder pigs.
Craig and Amy Good moved in 1981 to Olsburg, where they have lived since. The property has been in the Good family since 1964.
In 1981, the Goods made a decision that changed their operation forever. They wanted to raise breeding animals accredited by the National SPF Swine Accrediting Agency--a standard that Germann had followed with success in his herd.
According to National SPF, the technology used in the production of SPF pigs is designed to eliminate or prevent certain chronic growth-retarding diseases. It is accomplished by surgically removing the pigs from the sow, rearing them in isolation, and placing the pigs on isolated farms for normal growth and reproduction.
The offspring of these lab pigs are used to repopulate other farms. The method is designed to break the disease cycle, making it possible to obtain and raise pigs free of clinical evidence of certain diseases and external parasites.
The first offspring breeder pigs that Good sold were in July 1982.
"We were living 100 percent on borrowed money," Good recalled. "But it was definitely worth it. The 1980s was a good time to be in the program. You could get a premium for your pigs."
There are only two SPF breeders in Kansas--Roth Farms, of Green, and Good Farms, according to the National SPF website, www.nationalspf.com.
Good Farms has sold hogs to customers in Japan, Korea, Mexico and Taiwan.
Hennie Halgryn, herdsman and assistant manager of the farm, helps Good operate the farm. Halgryn generally handles the cattle, and Good oversees the hogs. They make their own feed from corn and beans raised on the farm. To meet government regulations, Good Farms flushes waste into a treatment system where it goes through a biological process to become nutrients in a lined lagoon.
Good also composts some waste product that is used as fertilizer on his fields. "I love getting up in the morning to do chores,"Good said.
Even on cold winter days with the north wind whipping over the land, he enjoys watching pigs grow.
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