Dave & Lauren

Dave and Lauren operate a 350-sow farrow-to-finish swine farm. They also grow crops (corn, soybeans and wheat) to feed their pigs and do some custom work for family, friends and neighbours.

Dave has been in the hog industry his entire life. His dad and opa (grandfather) began farming in Canada when they immigrated from the Netherlands in 1956. The current family farm was purchased in the 1960s. Dave’s dad passed in 1997 and he later took over the farm in 2002 at the age of 19. 

Lauren comes from a farming background of dairy cattle and broiler chickens, so it wasn’t much of an adjustment to marry a pig farmer! They were married in 2008 and now have two boys, ages 5 and 3, who love everything to do with farming from riding in the combine to weaning piglets. Lauren also works as an elementary teacher at their local public school three days a week.

In 2018, the Dave and Lauren built brand new gestation, farrowing, nursery and grower barns, as well as a feed manufacturing space. The new barn design allowed them to implement loose sow housing. They were also able to incorporate new technology to improve animal welfare, help save on labour and improve overall efficiency.