01/17/2026
It’s quiet here. Our farrowing barn is empty. Our nursery is almost empty. There is no running, excited little feet and sweet, curious faces when we open the doors to these barns. There is just silence. And maybe that’s what makes this so hard – the silence.
We bred around 25 head for December and January. And with the exception of one perfect berk litter, nothing bred. Fall had us feeling SO INCREDIBLY excited about this farrowing season – we got all the semen we wanted, heats were strong, breedings were solid, nothing came back in heat. I guess it was about early November when I first knew something wasn’t right. No dropped bellies, no underlines forming. I expressed my concerns to a dear friend (who also happens to be a vet) who immediately said – I’m coming over and we are going to ultrasound your sows. I was grateful. We needed to know. We ran our precious ladies by her one by one and she had the very hard task of telling us over and over again – open. It was soul crushing. She hugged me. I cried. We all cried. And then it was several weeks of letting it all sink in.
We LIVE in anticipation of this time of year and somehow our reality abruptly shifted. Welcome to agriculture, right? It’s not like we are immune to this sort of thing. Rather, production agriculture has a plethora of ups and downs on the daily, but they aren’t usually quite this expansive.
We have come to the conclusion that we must have had a batch of feed with mycotoxins that either left everything unsettled or caused early term abortions. I guess how it happened doesn’t matter as much at this point as what it looks like going forward. We won’t be having a live sale in March.
We are sad. We are disappointed. But we aren’t without hope. Here’s what I know to be true about my God: If the cattle on a thousand hills are His (Psalm 50:10) then so are all the sows in our barn. They aren’t Ryan's or mine or our children’s – they are His. And at the end of the day, He is sovereign and He is good. Are we to take the good things from his hands and not the bad? I don’t know why he allowed this, but I do know that HE is the author of our family’s story. He’s been behind the formation of EVERY successful pig who’s ever been born here. He allowed this to happen, and I trust that He will use this for His glory and our good because scripture promises that to those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
A few weeks ago, he also gave me this verse from Psalm 112: “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.” I can say that our hearts are firm and we are trusting that there is something GOOD in this. Maybe He wants us to invest in some new genetics that we would otherwise pass by, maybe something lies ahead for us that will require a lighter farm load …. Or maybe, He just wants us trust him with something so close to our hearts.
The good news is that He is gracious even in the midst of hard things. We had one December Berkshire litter out of the gilt Anah showed last spring and summer who was was so successful at every level. If I would have been allowed to hand pick just one gilt to stick – it probably would have been her. God also graciously let most of our sows for February litters stick. They are bellying down and I don’t know if I’ve ever been more thankful for popping underlines and low bellies! AND we usually save some of our best sows for February – so although our world was rocked, we aren't left desolate.
It feels a little like when Jesus fed 5,000 people with a handful of fish and loaves. We are only bringing a handful of “fish and loaves” to the table this year – but we are trusting God to multiply what He does give us. I’m hoping that all summer and fall long, we can watch with anticipation to see what He will do. Every victory we have ever had is from His hands – and in the end, it’s never really the victory that matters, it’s what He’s teaching us in the process. I promise I’ll share that with you as we watch and wait – I’m actually excited to wait, breath held, to see what He has for us to learn from this season of hard.
In closing, to our very faithful customers, we aren’t going anywhere. While we may not have pigs we raised to sell to you this year– if you need help finding a pig, picking out a pig, feeding your pigs or showing your pigs – we are STILL HERE TO HELP!! We are a whole family of people passionate about good, quality livestock. We know everyone has different needs, so let us know if we can help you find something. We have many industry connections and will be out and about in a way we wouldn’t normally need to be this year – so we would love to continue to be involved in helping you find what you need so you can reach your goals!!! Just reach out to us!
AND …. Stay tuned if you’re needing pigs for those later Southern state fairs, KJLS, Ak-sar-ben, Royal, NAILE, Cheyenne, etc. Some of our best are bred for February. We aren’t sure if we will sell private treaty or online, but let us know if you’re interested in a February and we will make you are high on our priority list. We're also changing around some summer and fall breeding options and that has us excited too.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. We’re still looking ahead with the same amount of passion as we’ve always had. And at the end of the day, whether is the barn in full or empty, God is good.
