Built for What’s Next: Brock Pillen Takes the Long View on Swine Health

Built for What's Next: Brock Pillen Takes the Long View on Swine Health

On this page:

• Building a Better Pork Operation
• A Long-Term Investment in Swine Health
• Producer Involvement Moves Swine Health Forward
• Building a Healthier Future

For Nebraska pork producer Brock Pillen, building for what's next is not simply about making an operation bigger. It is about developing people, improving production and helping the pork industry take on challenges that no producer can solve alone.

Pillen is co-CEO of Pillen Family Farms and DNA Genetics. The operation is a farrow-to-finish and includes nearly 80,000 sows, marketing approximately 2 million pigs each year. Through DNA Genetics, the business also supplies terminal and maternal genetics throughout North America and international exports to Brazil and Spain.

Building a Better Pork Operation

Even with an operation of that scale, Pillen said growth is not the primary measure of progress.

"To us, getting better doesn't necessarily mean growth," he said. "We see Improvement as investing in our team members, strengthening training and finding ways to improve production each day. On the genetics side, it means continuing to conduct meaningful research and providing high-quailty products for our customers and their operations."

That long-term mindset also shapes the family's plans for the future. Pillen and his sister serve as co-CEOs of the businesses their father founded. Working together successfully requires trust, communication and a shared vision for what the business can become.

Building what's next has always been a focus for the Pillen family. As the next generation gets involved, the goal is to build a business they can make their own and continue into the future.

A Long-Term Investment in Swine Health

Protecting that future means addressing the swine health challenges that continue to affect farms across the country. Pillen serves on the National Pork Board's Swine Health Advisory Committee, where producers and other industry leaders help guide coordinated work around the National Swine Health Strategy priorities such as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) elimination and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) elimination.

Pillen recognizes that eliminating these diseases will not happen quickly. However, he believes the opportunity to contribute to a plan that could benefit producers for generations makes the work worthwhile.

"I look at it as being part of a plan that will take years, but can have an impact on the pork industry and our family's business for generations," he said.

Committee involvement has also strengthened his confidence in what the industry can accomplish. From the outside, it can be easy to question whether an effort this large will lead to meaningful change. Seeing respected producers and experts working together has given Pillen greater confidence that the industry can develop a strategy capable of making an impact.

Producer Involvement Moves Swine Health Forward

For any swine health strategy to succeed, Pillen believes producers must help shape it and put it into practice.

"Producer involvement is essential," he said. "If we don't have producer buy-in and producers executing the plan that we come up with, there's no chance of it happening."

That will require approaching old challenges with an open mind. PRRSV has affected the pork industry for decades, and Pillen said achieving a different result may require farms to adopt practices they are not using today.

One area he believes deserves greater attention is transportation biosecurity, particularly washing livestock trailers. Pillen sees consistent trailer sanitation as an important step toward reducing the spread of PEDV and supporting longer-term efforts against PRRSV.

Veterinarians, testing and disease surveillance are also central to his operation's approach. Pillen Family Farms has increased its investment in testing and surveillance during the past several years because knowing a herd's disease status is the first step toward taking action.

Building a Healthier Future

Pillen knows the road ahead will require patience, coordination and participation from producers throughout the country. But he also sees the potential outcome clearly.

"Success would be getting to a point where the next generation of producers doesn't have to deal with PRRSV the way we do today," Pillen said. "We know we won't get there overnight, but every step we take now can make things better for the people raising pigs after us."

By investing in people, preparing the next generation and helping the industry work toward shared swine health goals, Pillen is helping to build what comes next for healthier pigs and people one practical step at a time.