Congratulations to Lance Lawrence for celebrating 25 years with Iowa Select Farms!

posted on Monday, March 30, 2020

Congratulations to Lance Lawrence for celebrating 25 years with Iowa Select Farms!

Lance

We’re pretty sure Lance was a summer intern before interning was cool. Back in 1994, his first position at Iowa Select Farms put him learning alongside Tracy Borkowski, who was the manager at Rout Sow 2. Today, both are still with the company; however, Lance is now the farm manager at Stockdale Sow 11, but before he got to where he is today, Lance worked as department manager at Sow 2 and Sow 11 (they rotated between farrowing and breeding every 6-9 months back then!) managed a GDU and managed Jacobson Sow 7.

In his current role, Lance oversees a crew of 13 employees. Last year, their farm produced 101,255 pigs. He says he works hard to be good manager, but also to train and advise his crew to be the best they possibly can in all areas of SelectCare—people care, animal care, community care and environmental care. Lance also admits the key to being a good manager is adapting to change, something he’s done a lot of over the years.

“Looking back, some of the biggest changes are production related,” said Lance. “Take, for example. Our goals. I remember when we used to shoot for 12.4 total born, 11.0 born alive and 9.7 wean average and that was in 2004, ten years into my career with Iowa Select Farms. Today, our farm sees 15.3 total born, 13.3 born alive and 11.5 wean average. Production has really improved.”

Lance attributes a lot of the improvements in production to positive pressure filtration, improved health and genetics.

One of his favorite memories over the years is a shared fond memory you’ve heard in other Years of Service posts—the silver bullet, sow 2’s remote office and shower.

“That’s something that will always stick out during my internship and definitely wouldn’t live up to today’s biosecurity standards,” chuckled Lance. “It was something for all of us to laugh about then and today, 25 years later.”

Other fond memories for Lance revolve around the people he’s had an opportunity to work with.

“The family-like atmosphere, not just at the farm but also the company as a whole, has made it really easy to stay here for so many years,” he said. “I’ve worked with a lot of great people that always had confidence in me. They taught me that I’m a valuable member of our team, even if some mistakes were made along the way.”

Outside of work, Lance enjoys hunting, fishing, bowling and spending time with his three daughters, Brandi, Peyton and Reese. He even got Brandi to work alongside him part-time at Sow 11!

As far as the future is concerned for Lance, he is excited to continue growing and developing into the best manager he can possibly be for his farm.

“With the help of my awesome crew, we will get Sow 11 back into the Top Ten of Select Pride, and maybe even the first-place spot,” said Lance, who’s farm was one of the Most Improved in 2019. “I am excited to continue teaching, training and excelling at production.”