For Perth County Pork producer Kevin Brown, farming isn’t just a job it’s his passion.
“I love it,” said Kevin. “Knowing that each day you did the best you can to care for the pigs.”
Kevin is a contract finishing pork producer. Which means he owns his dual- vent barn, but the pigs that he looks after are owned by someone else.
“I’m basically, caring for someone else’s inventory and investment, but I try and care for them like they are my own.”
As a new load of animals arrive at his farm, Kevin keeps a watchful eye on each of the nursey pigs that come down the chute.
“The stage of the pigs coming in today are about 70 lbs, we’ll take them up to 285-290 before they leave to go to market.”
Each new batch delivered to Kevin’s barn is between 1800 to 2000 pigs and he’ll raise them for approximately 105 days. His main responsibilities are making sure his water and feeding systems are working correctly, watching the condition of the pigs to ensure they are eating and drinking, and maintaining a consistent temperature in the barn.
“It can be cyclical, where your heavy workload is shipping, then washing and cleaning the barn, but once you’re refilled and they are growing it’s a little lighter duty.”
Kevin enjoys farming so much, he says it’s easy to wake up each day and go to work.
What really makes Kevin’s dedication to farming remarkable, is that each day in the barn, he’s only able to use one arm. This, after surviving a near death incident in 2009.
“In December 2009 I was a junior hockey linesman in Woodstock. I was waiting to break up a fight and in the process of one player throwing the other to the ice, the one guy cartwheeled, and his skate came up and punctured my carotid artery.”
The neck laceration resulted in Kevin losing a significant amount of blood and he would suffer a major stroke because of the injury. An injury that has impacted two thirds of his brain.
“It affected my left side,” said Kevin. “ I can’t wiggle the toes on my left foot or used my left hand.
“The doctor told me I’d never have fine finger movement again, which is another curve ball complication when trying to do work in the barn like where you’re mechanically trying to fix things, it’s a challenge.”
Despite these challenges Kevin doesn’t complain and remains committed to working as hard as he can to look after the animals under his care.
“I’ve figured out a few adjustments to make my life simpler and more worker friendly.”
His positive attitude and optimistic outlook shines through when he talks about his farm. He says his motivation is knowing that his small role in the pork industry is helping feed families.
“It all comes down to your own drive and outlook.”
The 5th generation farmer is a shining example of what a positive attitude looks like for a farmer.
“It’s just great watching them walk out and knowing that they are going on to feed the world and provide a great source of protein.”
