James Lint Wins Back-to-Back SelectPride Award
posted on Saturday, November 9, 2019
“I know more than I did yesterday, but not as much as I will tomorrow.”
That’s the motto of James Lint, manager of Nursery 117 and recent winner of Q2 AND Q3 SelectPride for multiplication growers.
After working at Iowa Select Farms for ten years, you’d think James knows everything there is to know about pig care, but that’s not quite the case.
“I’m a quiet guy, but that doesn’t mean I’m not listening and learning,” he said. “There’s something to be learned every day no matter what job you have. For me, it might be a quirk about working with my pigs, a new maintenance challenge at the farm or how to communicate better.”
When we told James that he had placed first overall for the quarter he was completely shocked, but Multiplication Supervisor, Tysen Abell, was not.
“I know the work that James puts in and it shows,” said Tysen. “When you can be here ten years and still learn something every day, that’s huge. It means you’re not stuck in a rut and you’re pushing to do better.”
According to Tysen, this was one of the best quarters the multiplication group has ever had. Scores are a culmination of a farm’s production well-being assessment, biosecurity assessment, mortality and supervisor site visit. James led the pack after receiving a 98.5% on his PWB assessment, 98.6% on his biosecurity assessment, having 1.3% mortality and passing his supervisor site visit with a 98.8%.
“It’s fun to go on farms like James’ because it’s evident that he truly cares,” said PWB Specialist, Jessica Rosener, who recently completed an unannounced biosecurity assessment at Nursery 117. “The farm is clean, the pigs are happy and excited to see you, and he’s on top of everything.”
And while he excels at his job, pig farming isn’t something that James ever saw himself doing. A native of Villisca, he joined the Navy after high school in 1979 and spent eleven years working on missiles in Guam and Norfolk, Virginia.
“I wanted to see the world and, in my opinion, there’s no better way to do it,” said James. “I take a lot of pride in being a Persian Gulf War Veteran, but if you ask me what my calling is, it’s pig farming. It’s the best job I’ve ever had.”
In his role as manager, James oversees the daily care of 1,400 gilts for 13-14 weeks at a time. He works closely with Dennis Nelson at nearby Huls GDU, as well. The two help each other out with weekend chores and load in/outs. The gilts that their farms produce are “the future of our herd” according to director of multiplication, Shamus Brown, and play a huge role in Iowa Select Farms’ production results.
“Multipliers are very important for our system,” explained Shamus. “The healthier the herd, the higher quantity and quality of gilts we have to choose from, meaning only the best of the best actually make it to a sow farm. High performing gilts reduce sow lameness and increase overall productivity."
Congratulations on a great quarter, James! Keep up the great work.
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