Brock Hoogestraat diversified his farming operation this fall with the opening of his new hog barn.
Hoogestraat, whose family got out of hogs 10 years ago, farms about a thousand acres and runs Hoogestraat Seed Shop. He thought putting up a hog barn would be good for his farming operation and good for the community.
“I think the days of just row cropping are done. We’ve got to be more diversified and have other income besides just trying to row crop. I think a lot of people are starting to understand that and getting to that stage now,” he said.
He also said he will spread the manure the hogs will produce on his crop ground, adding value to his operation. By spreading his own manure, he will cut down on synthetic fertilizer that comes from China.
“Hog manure is a natural fertilizer,” he said.
Hoogestraat hosted an open house in his new state of the art tunnel-ventilated finisher, located west of Lennox Aug. 27. The facility should be able to start housing pigs next week.
He went with MDS Manufacturing Co. Inc. of Parkston and Ethan Co-op Lumber to build the barn, along with local electricians and local dirtwork.
Since his facility will house 2,400 head of hogs that he will take from feeder weight pigs to finished hogs, he did not need a conditional use permit to build the barn in Turner County. He only needed a building permit because his manure value was below 1,000 animal units.
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