07/06/2026
As some of you may have noticed, we’ve done a tremendous amount of business with the Perry family from Perry Swine Genetics over the past few years. Travis has been an incredible inspiration, role model, mentor, resource, but most of all a friend and brother in Christ. That being said, I’ve been on an internship with Travis and his wonderful family out in Indiana for the past week and a half. Kirstin, Travis, and Miss Bryson welcomed me into their home, made me a part of their family, and I couldn’t be more grateful for all they’ve done. Over the last week and a half I have learned more than I ever thought I would. We attended the junior national summertype conference. We sorted, processed, and weaned pigs. We went to the crossroads genetics open house and looked at boars. We did farm visits, evaluated hogs, and made feeding adjustments as needed. I watched and learned how to collect boars and even collected by myself for the first time. We bred several sows throughout the week. We farrowed a bunch of sows of various breeds including dark crosses, herefords, tamworths, a berkshire, and a landrace. We opened up the barn and showed boars to other breeders and boar studs. I learned how to clip on pigs. I learned how to trim feet on pigs. And in addition to all that, we still did the regular feeding and general management. I learned so much about nutrition, feeding strategies, and had endless discussions on matters of all kinds, not just about the show pig industry, but about life. All in all, I am eternally grateful for all the Perry family has done to help get me off my feet, and I can’t wait to show the industry what they believed I could accomplish since day one.
