Congratulations to Ron Allen for Celebrating 25 Years With Iowa Select Farms
posted on Monday, August 5, 2019
Congratulations to Ron Allen for celebrating 25 years with Iowa Select Farms!
Prior to joining the Iowa Select Farms team, Ron worked at Farmland Foods, Plastic Recycling in Iowa Falls and also spent some time in the Army. Like most boys that grew up watching military movies, Ron always had a dream of serving his country.
“I served just as Vietnam was getting over,” he recalled. “I did basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, then went on to Fort Carson in Colorado and even got to spend some time in Germany. It was a great opportunity for a small town, Iowa boy like me.”
In 1994, Ron was looking for a career change and very clearly remembers a friend telling him about Iowa Select Farms followed by the words, “Boy, you need to come up here.” Ron applied and was hired the next day.
His first job was at one of the company’s first sow farms, Stumme Sow 3, and then at Iowa Select Farms’ first-ever replacement gilt farm. After 18 months, the farm turned into a commercial finisher and Ron worked there for 8 ½ years.
In 2004, Ron transitioned to the nursery side of things and in the following years spent time at Nursery 21, 19, 4 and 18. Working in the nurseries were a lot of fun for him, but required a lot of work that always kept Ron on his toes.
After 4 years in nurseries, Ron took over Hagge Finisher, a light farm that gets pigs every 6 weeks. In his role, Ron is responsible for choring, sorting, previewing for markets and then marketing hogs, a task that is uncommon for most finishing supervisors; however, the daily challenge of his job, no matter the farm he was at, is something that Ron has loved most about his job.
“25 years sure went by fast, but it’s been a good run,” said Ron. “I think over the years I’ve worked on 15 different farms. It’s hard to believe that I’ve only got 17 months to go.”
With retirement on the horizon, Ron is looking forward to a life full of relaxation, fishing and family time. His stepson, Keith, and family live in Iowa Falls and Ron’s daughter, Sarah, lives in Oregon. He and his wife, Carol, plan on making several road trips out west. Spending time with his family has always been a main priority for Ron.
“It’s something that I’ve loved about working at Iowa Select—the family aspect,” he said. “Whether it was Adventureland or the State Fair, those are some really great memories together that my family has. The company has taken great care of us.”
Although he’s looking forward to more family time, Ron is going to miss the friends he’s made at work.
“I’ll really miss the people,” he said. “Although the company has grown a lot in the last 25 years, many of the originals still work here, which is a testament to the company. I’ve made a lot of friends and will miss working with them.”
Congratulations on 25 years, Ron. We appreciate all that you do for Iowa Select Farms.
Subscribe to our newsletter: Get fresh articles delivered straight to your inbox.
Subscribe