Bio: Meyer, Dan - Outstanding Young Farmer 1983

Contact: Kathleen E. Englebretson

Email: kathy@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Meyer, Mullins

---Source: Marshfield News-Herald (3 February 1983) by Tom Lindner

Meyer, Dan 1983

LOYAL - Farming, to be successful, must be operated as a business. It is not an experiment or hobby.

That's the philosophy of Dan Meyer, Loyal, who, along with his wife, Diane, and four sons, operates a 1,500-head hog operation on a 240-acre farm northeast of Loyal. Meyer's philosophy seems to be successful: last weekend he was named Wisconsin's Outstanding Young Farmer for 1983 by the Wisconsin Jaycees.

"I think farming is a business. It is not a hobby," Meyer, 34, said. "It's got to be treated like a business...I think we've got too many farmers that don't treat it as a business."

A successful farmer also has to enjoy his or her work. Meyer, who was reared on s farm, said it is his attraction to farming that brought him back to the profession despite eight enjoyable years as a teacher.

A University Of Wisconsin-River Falls graduate, Meyer was teaching vocational agriculture in Stoughton in 1972 when Mrs. Meyer's parents offered to sell them their farm. Thinking it would be a good investment, they accepted the offer, but stayed, but stayed in Stoughton where they rented a three-acre farm.

"I enjoyed teaching, but I also wanted farm," he said.

In 1975, Meyer accepted a teaching position in Spencer, just seven miles from their farm. Between developing a good AG program at Spencer and working to make their farm operation successful, the next few years proved to be busy for the Meyers. Those years also were important in the development of their farm operation.

"After two years, we realized were were not making any money with canning crops, he said. "The Holstein heifers were doing poorly on the swamp lands. However, the hogs were making us some money. We decided to purchase a portable hog unit allowing us to expand to 50 brood sows."

Three years later, Meyer made a career change that allowed him more time to work on the farm and eventually produce contacts that have had a substantial impact on the operation. He left teaching to work as a farm consultant with Smith Feed Service.

"I enjoy teaching very much, but I guess you always wonder if its greener on the other side of the fence," Meyer said.

Teaching, he said, was valuable in that it helped him to become more independent, as will as allowing him become more independent, as well as allowing him to significantly influence students. Meyer said he was concerned, however, about the future of education and concerned by the attitudes of some people to it.

"They don't put the value that they should in education," he said. "They always felt that I was over-payed and I thought that I was working with some pretty valuable resources -- young people's minds."

Four years after returning to farm in Clark County, Meyer said and his wife realized they enjoyed working with hogs and, through his job, learned about the possibility of producing breeding stock for Kleen-Leen Inc. Kleen-Leen, in turn, would do the marketing. There was only one problem -- financing.

"Needless to stay, talking hogs in dairy country is like barking up the wrong tree," Meyer said, "However, the local (Production Credit Association) did, but when they informed us how much front money we needed -- our dreams looked impossible."

Eventually, after plenty of reading and research, the Meyers formed a corporation -- The Swinehaus Inc. -- with Ray Mullins, Colby, and Dan's brother, Allen, who farms nearby. In June 1980, the corporation started building two large hog barns and the first pigs were sold a year later, and as Meyer said, "our 1,500 head...hog unit became a reality.

The Meyers are totally in charge of managing the operation. Between Dan and Diane, two hired men and their older boys, the hog operation requires 14 1/2 hours of work a day.

A major part of the unit's management is scheduling breeding and farrowing and keeping other records on the hogs, as well as financial records. Those duties are left to Mrs. Meyer. Meyer oversees the breeding and farrowing before he goes to work in the morning, the hired men do much of the manual labor in the tightly regulated unit and three of the children -- Danny, 12, Derrick, 10, and David, 8, do much of the cleaning.

Swinehaus Inc. markets approximately 30 butcher hogs a week, 80 percent of them locally. More than 3,000 hogs are marketed annually.

Meyer said he believes he and Diane made the right decision when they decided to pursue the hog operation.

"One thing I like better in hogs than dairy is that you can see your results much quicker," Meyer said. "You can see generation upon generation much more quickly... You can see your results in a year's time. In dairy it takes a lifetime to build a good dairy herd."

Meyer said he is pleased with the success the operation has seen. He's also content with the corporation arrangement -- he said the other partners are co-operative and the arrangement will allow Meyer's children to join the business if they desire. Meyer said he would encourage his sons to join the operation if they also view farming as a business.

"They've got to love it or forget it," he said. "You've got to put you heart in it or it's not going to work."

Meyer said he is optimistic about the future of agriculture, although the industry will have to change as society's needs change. He said the enthusiasm of the other farmers at last weekends competition made him hopeful.

Meyer said he's also optimistic about achieving some goals for his own operation:

--Improving the sow's herd productivity through good breeding stock selection and management, including the acquisition of eight breeding bores. And, eventually using artificial semen.

--Continuing efforts with their 50-head beef-catttle herd and improve cross-breeding programs by using more Simmental and Polled Herefords.

--Increasing crop productions and utilizing home grown feed within the farming operation as well as purchasing enough machinery to harvest the crops and increasing tillable acres from 75 to 90.

--Using the futures market for protection and eventually using computers for better record keeping.

To obtain those goals Meyer said changing technology and advice from professionals people and I think we've quite a team together to do that," he said. "I think we've got quite a team together to do that," he said. " I think you have to use people that are experienced in their fields and not be afraid to use them."

Mrs. Meyer said continuous learning has been and will continue to be important to the operation's success.

I don't think a person ever gets done learning things," she said. "You have to continually be learning,"

Meyer said he was surprised by the award, but doesn't really consider himself "outstanding."

"I don't think we're doing anything good outstanding farmer wouldn't do," he said.

Despite the surprise, Meyer said he was proud of the recognition and is looking forward to the national competition in February 1984.

"I'm proud of what we've accomplished, " he said. "I didn't dream that we'd accomplish what we have."