ROAN, Ind. — He started from scratch but now is living high on the hog raising enough pigs to feed more than just a small army.

Mark York, whose childhood dream was to be a hog farmer, won’t argue when told he and his wife, Christine, are a real success story.

“It really has been. The hog industry has blessed us a lot and we want to give back to it,” he said.

Recently, York received the Producer Meritorius Service Award from Indiana Pork. “I feel deeply humbled and very thankful for that honor,” he said.

York, who grew up on an 80-acre corn and soybean farm in Wabash County, graduated from Purdue University in 1988 with a four-year Ag Economics degree.

His father, Jim, was a regional field representative for Indiana Farm Bureau and his uncle, Steve Rush, was a hog buyer for Wilson Foods in Logansport. 

After college, York with fond childhood memories of tagging along with his uncle while he was on the job followed suit in purchasing hogs from farmers for processing at the Wilson Foods plant. His desire to raise hogs, despite no prior experience at raising farm animals, was still very much alive, though.

After his job transferred to Michigan, York said he met Bob Dykhuis, a hog farmer in the southwest part of the state.

With a desire to return home, York told him about his dream and offered to raise pigs for him in Indiana. 

Two months later, he said Dykhuis asked him if he wanted to build 4,000 spaces to raise his pigs from wean to finish.

“I said let’s do it.  That’s how it all started,” York said.

York said he was able to obtain financing to build his first hog raising facility at Wabash County. He also went to work as a salesman for Hog Slat, Inc. to supplement his income.

Christine York, who had never experienced any type of farming, left her job as a manager at a bank near Holland, Michigan to help take care of the pigs. York said his wife learning quickly did everything from feeding and giving shots to the pigs.

She later took a job as an inspector making sure farmers contracted to produce animals were raising them correctly. 

The York’s added two more hog raising sites in 2003.

York served as board president for Indiana Pork in 2010 and six years later the couple added a fourth facility to give them 17,000 hogs.

Since it takes nearly six months for hogs to reach maturity, the Yorks was raising about 35,000 head a year.

York was then able to generate enough income to quit his job and become a full-time hog farmer.

“The amount of pork we produce would meet the annual needs of 135,000 people a year,” he said.  

York said all his hogs are processed at the Tyson Foods plant in Logansport.

Currently, he’s president of Wabash County Farm Bureau. 

For the past six years, York has helped donate 21,000 pounds of fresh pork to local food pantries in the “Farmers Who Care” program started by his local farm bureau branch. He also visits FFA classes in the schools to give lessons on agriculture.

York said he emphasizes the need for youth in agriculture and its good income potential in many areas.

He also advises students not to be overwhelmed or discouraged, initially, by the large investment required in things like machinery.

York said they should discover where opportunity lies and figure out how to make it work before giving up.

“Make it make sense.  Follow your dream,” he said.

York said he also benefitted from Dykuis giving him more of his young pigs to finish and being like a coach.

“I’ll never be able to pay that man back.  He just took me to levels that I didn’t even think I could accomplish,” he said.