Interview with Minda Mares from Seaboard Foods in Holyoke.
My name is Minda Mares and I grew up on a ranch in Southeast Wyoming. I have an Associate’ s Degree in Science from Casper College in Casper, Wyoming and my Bachelor’ s Degree in Animal Science from Texas A & M University in College Station, Texas. I began working for Seaboard Foods in October of 2002 as a management trainee. I have worked in different areas of pork production. I have worked with male pigs called boars, female pigs called sows and with baby pigs called piglets. I took over management of my first sow farm in September of 2003. A sow farm is where female pigs are kept.
I was a Sow Farm Manager for 11 years. I worked day to day on the farm with a crew of employees to complete tasks including feeding sows, breeding sows, farrowing sows, care of newborn piglets, weaning piglets and cleaning the barns. In addition to daily tasks, I was also responsible for the upkeep of the farm, payroll, environmental control to protect the pigs, and record keeping.
I moved in to my current role as a Sow Farm Production Manager in January of 2015. Today I supervise six sow farms north of Holyoke, Colorado. I work with each farm crew to accomplish daily tasks and goals. I oversee 41 employees who care for 14,000 sows. Our teams wean 6,650 piglets each week. I really enjoy the opportunity to work every day with animals and have a true passion for pigs. The most rewarding part of my job is helping my farm managers and assistant managers become successful leaders in our company and industry.
How well did you read? 1. What is a male pig called? ________________ 2. What is a female pig called? ______________ 3. What are baby pigs called? _______________ 4. Describe one thing Minda does in her job? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________
Colorado Ag in the Classroom 7 www. growingyourfuture. com