Virgil Celebrates 25 Years of Service with Iowa Select Farms

posted on Sunday, October 2, 2022

Virgil 25 Yrs. of Srvc.
Like many fellow employees who hit their 25-year milestone, he says the time has gone by in a blink of an eye. But Virgil’s impact isn’t one to take lightly; his name is easily associated with one of the founders of our gilt developer farms.

Virgil has started up, contributed to and managed most of the gilt developers throughout the southern Iowa region. His father, Loren, also worked for Iowa Select Farms.

Today, he manages Brooks gilt developer, which cares for and sends bred gilts to Popcorn and Ochylski sow farms. Popcorn sow farm has repeatedly been a SelectPride winner amongst the sow farms, an achievement that any gilt developer should take pride in.

He’s widely known as a listener rather than a talker, though he says it when he has something to say. He’s dedicated and hard-working and has great animal husbandry skills developed over his decade’s experience in the pig industry.

“There’s not a job on this farm I won’t do alongside any of my team, and we all help each other out as best we can,” said Virgil.

He says it’s good to see the company growing and doing good things. He candidly shared that in the early years, when the company was just starting, there were “naysayers” to the bigger farmers.

“Now, when I am out and about, people come up and thank me for what Iowa Select Farms is doing in the communities,” said Virgil. “It’s something that makes me proud.”

Virgil says there is one program he especially appreciates—the Jeff and Deb Hansen Home for Hope and the program we fund for Children’s Cancer Connection.

“I lost a sister to cancer,” said Virgil. “She was young, and it was hard on my family. It means a lot that we support those families who have to go through something like that.”

Virgil says he’s been treated well over the 25 years, and the people make such a difference. “We all treat each other respectfully, and I have had the great privilege of working with good, hardworking, dedicated people.”