Real Families
"We raise corn, soybeans and pigs. But the most important thing we are raising on our farm is our kids." Blane Olson
Meet the men and women behind the product. Their real stories and real passion.
Blane and Kristi Olson, along with their five children, work side by side every day to achieve their dreams in Logan County. They have a successful Duroc show pig business where they sell pigs to families all across the country, and joined his sister and brother-in-law to start a joint boar stud. They most recently added commercial pigs to their herd. They chose to build a commercial finishing barn to grow their farm for their growing family.
"We raise corn, soybeans and pigs. But the most important thing we are raising on our farm is our kids."
Blane Olson
Gavin and Hannah Duewer farm alongside his family outside of Waverly, IL. Since the video above was filmed, they've expanded their family to three sweet, little girls! They raise pigs, grow corn and soybeans, and specialize in breeding fluffy St. Bernard dogs. They rasie pigs from weaning to market weight, much like the Olson family. Pigs move into their barns around 12 pounds and leave when they reach 280 pounds (market weight).
“Five generations ago we started doing this, and five generations from now I hope we are still doing this.”
Gavin Duewer
Burgener Pork Inc. consists of the four Burgener brothers, Bret, Brad, Chris and Chad who farm together outside of Moweaqua, IL. You could say that farming is in their blood. They each enjoy a specific part of the farm and specialize in that area, all while working as a team. Bret is talented when it comes to maintaining the barns and taking care of pigs. Brad mostly enjoys planting and harvesting the row crops. Chris specializes in farrowing and breeding pigs, where Chad enjoys trucking the pigs to and from the farm.
“We get along so well, that’s what really makes it tick.”
Brad Burgener
IPPA Past President, Alan Kollmann, and his wife, Michelle, have been married for over 20 years. They have three sons, Jared, Eric, Justin and a daughter, Jenna. Alan is a third-generation farmer from Effingham County. On the farm, they have a 1,000 head feeder-to-finish contract barn, 40 show pig sows, and a small grain farm consisting of corn and soybeans. Alan is a husband, father, school board member and pig farmer.
“Our kids are involved daily, so they get to see all aspects of the operation. And whenever they get done, they feel that sense of accomplishment.”
Alan Kollmann
