Julie Crouch Retires After 26 Years with Iowa Select Farms

Wishing the one and only Julie Crouch many laughs, fun travels and good times around a campfire as we celebrate her outstanding 27-year career at Iowa Select Farms. "You won't meet anyone more willing to be a great mentor," said Tim Hermsen, Senior Wean to Market Supervisor, "Julie has guided me and so many others through the industry ins and outs, finding efficiencies and solutions through every production challenge imaginable." Pork production is a 24-7 job requiring a dedicated team to make time-sensitive decisions. "Whenever an issue presented itself, Julie was always my first phone call," said Tim, "even more important, she always answered!"

As a Multiplication Logistics and Data Analyst Specialist, Julie develops and coordinates all movement between the transportation and gilt teams, ensuring all the equipment and testing meet biosecurity requirements. "Julie has so much experience and knowledge, it could take four people to fill the role she has on our team," said Tysen Abell, Multiplication Supervisor, "She has truly been a role model and helped shape me into the supervisor I want to be for the team." Tysen and Julie pursued teaching careers before finding their calling in pork production. Julie's natural ability to simplify complex production challenges and bring people together has been a valuable asset to our team, "she has that natural ability to teach and lead," said Tysen, "she hired me 19 years ago and has been by my side ever since."

Julie has worn many other hats over the years. She is known as the "face" of the Afton office, helping the HR team with applicants and orientations and assisting with maintenance and warehouse tasks. "Julie has always been so willing to help with whatever anybody needed," said Kerry Sweeney, Director of Human Resources, "She's worked with a lot of people, personalities, challenges and moving parts over the years and keeps us all on track with a smile on her face, she will be missed!"

At Iowa Select Farms, sometimes we're lucky enough to have families who call each other co-workers, too. Julie's husband Ray also had an extensive career with Iowa Select Farms, working 26 years before retiring from the maintenance team in 2023, and their son, Zach, works as a Production Accounting Analyst on the accounting team. "It's really special working with my mom," said Zach, "knowing that she's on the front lines of production, working through the logistics and daily challenges, and I get to be behind the scenes crunching the numbers is very rewarding."
Thank you, Julie, for your willingness to step in wherever needed and share your valuable wisdom with the team. We will miss you!

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