Stewardship on all sides

ADAMS — Matt, Pat and Pete Thome work together as brothers at the helm of Thome Family Farms, a family-owned hog operation that stretches across rural Mower County and neighboring Iowa and Missouri, where their sows are located.

As one of the county’s largest pork producers, Thome Family Farms receives weaned pigs weekly, which allows them a steady market flow to their packers, providing humanely and sustainably raised pork in southeastern Minnesota. Matt, Pat and Pete all have dedicated roles and responsibilities within the operation. They work directly with three local packing plants to consistently market and manage hogs, providing premium pork to consumers.

“At any given time we have nursery pigs, feeder pigs and market pigs … all stages of production here (on-site) on feed year-round,” Pete said. “As a farrow-to-finish, multi-site production operation, our sow farms are managed by Swine Vet Center and Pipestone Management.”

Pete also highlighted the importance of biosecurity in the industry. Their farrowing facilities utilize shower-in/shower-out systems with filtered air to prevent disease from coming in or out. They also hold quarterly meetings and talk weekly to stay up to date with their business partners.

Thome Family Farms works with 17 local farm families who chore, feed and care for their pigs as partnered custom growers. A third of the pigs on feed are also housed and cared for in facilities at the Thome homestead in dedicated wean-to-finish barns. The remaining facilities are revolving nursery facilities. Once the weaned pigs finish the nursery phase, they are moved out to the custom grower facilities. By keeping groups the ideal size of 2,000-2,500 head, they can care for each group, market them and clean the facility — known as an all-in, all-out production practice.

“Our custom growers are all within a 10- to 15-mile radius of the home farm,” Pete said. “We work with some of the best … Some are former dairy farmers and many others grew up as farm kids who were naturally raised with good animal husbandry skills. You can tell that they care and I think that they are proud to be part of a family-owned operation of our size and scale. We are thankful for all the families, business partners and our local community; we couldn’t do what we do without them.”

The brothers’ parents, Gary and Jane Thome, began their hog farm in 1979, with a dozen sows. Gary worked with a neighbor to raise hogs while the couple also raised their family — three sons and a daughter. In turn, each of the boys went to college at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, before returning home to the farm. Matt, as the eldest, joined his father on the farm in 2000. In 2003, Pat was the next to return home. In 2008, Gary and his neighbor split ways, each establishing their own operation so the next generation could become involved for both families. Pete was the last to come home and join the operation in 2020.

The brothers' roles shifted each time and Gary phased the business over to his boys. Gary and Jane both said they give credit to their sons who have taken over operations and grown the farm to what it is today.

“Matt probably has the most challenging job,” Pete said. “Like any business, we want to be profitable. Matt has to consider and balance cost to production, price of corn, packer agreements, along with many other things … all to, at the end of the day, … not be in the red, which can be a challenge in this industry.”

Matt’s main role on the farm is risk management. He manages the flow of pigs by monitoring incoming deliveries from the sow farms and scheduling outgoing loads, with coordination between the packing plants a constant stream, he said. Pat is in charge of the farm’s agronomy. He manages inputs, machinery purchases and maintenance, the livestock facilities, and the manure management.

Thome Family Farms prides itself on its production model. By raising a few thousand acres of corn, all of which surround the homestead, the Thomes have found ways to keep their farm as sustainable as they can.

“It’s all a cycle,” Pat said. “We raise the pigs; they produce the manure. We use the manure to raise the corn, and then we use the corn to feed the pigs … It's a pretty good cycle. It gives us a good cost advantage when we are feeding our hogs and not having to use commercial fertilizers.”

By injecting the manure straight into the soil, the Thomes can fertilize more efficiently, avoiding nutrient loss, reducing air pollution, water contamination and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.

Since corn is the largest input cost in raising hogs at an operation of this scale, Pat said, converting a corn-soybean rotation to 100% corn has been the best decision they made.

“Our manure is 100% organic,” Pat said. “Every ounce on our farm is captured in a deep concrete-pitted barn. It is precision applied with GPS to the field using a drag line system. For us, that is a big advantage … and our carbon footprint is much lower because of that.”

Communication plays a major part in farm operations. Pete’s main role is to oversee communication with the Thomes’ custom growers, which he does by making routine visits, daily conversations and working directly with the feed mill, so that everyone always has feed on hand. His responsibilities also include working with nutritionists and veterinarians to ensure health management, as well as public relations.

“My dad has always instilled in us kids that barns don’t raise pigs, people do,” Pete said. “You can have a state-of-the-art facility and all the technology in the world, but nothing is going to beat an actual person in the barn … choring and caring for those animals.”

The Thomes employ five full-time employees who work alongside Matt, Pat and Pete on a daily basis. Chores on the farm include feeding and monitoring water intake twice a day, giving vaccinations, receiving, moving, or shipping pigs to market weekly, pressure washing facilities and equipment, maintaining and repairing building sites, and doing field work in the spring and fall.

“Harvest time is all hands-on deck, everybody pitches in,” Pete said. “We take Pat’s lead; he runs the combine and makes sure that everything is dialed in. I am usually the wingman in the grain cart, and Matt is in charge of the grain handling, drying, documenting moisture and the grain storage.”

This season’s large rainfalls have the Thomes expecting a great crop harvest.

“We have adequate storage that allows us to store our grain, giving us the ability to better manage our corn usage throughout the year,” Pete said. “One hundred percent of our corn goes to feed our pigs as well as additional corn we purchase from our neighbors. It’s all processed at the local feed mill and delivered to the pigs through our nutrition program.”

Education and proper training are also among the top priorities at Thome Family Farms, both on the homestead and its off-site facilities. With the fourth generation of farmers on the horizon, the value of education is non-negotiable to be considered for a role on the farm.

Sarah, Gary and Jane’s daughter, chose a different career path but remains nearby and keeps in touch. All three Thome brothers met their wives while attending college and have since started families of their own. Agriculture remains a tradition for the Thome family members who have grown up with it and are well known for it in their community. All four Thome children served as Mower County pork ambassadors and have been involved in 4-H, FFA and county pork producers.

Will, Matt’s son, and Brandon, Pat’s son, are among the oldest boys in the family who have grown up immersed in helping with the day-to-day chores and fieldwork, but when it comes to the business, the door is open to any of the next generation, just like Gary and Jane offered to all of their kids, Pete said. The Thomes look to their future with confidence, as Will is currently serving as the Mower County pork ambassador. The family also helps support the town’s summer celebration through a local BBQ contest, which is one more reason to celebrate and share their dedication to pork with the community.

“I’ve always said that we don’t have to be the biggest, but we do want to be the best,” Pete said. “It's the little things that matter and making sure you’re not forgetting those (and) doing things right. Dad instilled that into all three of us boys at a young age, and it is still our focus today.”