FARGO -- Craig Jarolimek, a hog producer and the North Dakota's first president of the National Pork Producers Council from 1999 to 2000, continues to be heavily involved in the industry.
Jarolimek is a board member and part owner of the North Dakota Sow Center, which has two farms -- one in Bottineau and one at Edmore, each with 5,000 sows. The farms ship weanling pigs to partners in Iowa who finish the pigs.
Separately, Jarolimek is a director of market development for TOPIGS USA, a genetics company, which is part of a Dutch genetics company.
Jarolimek said North Dakota has a relatively small number of larger, breeding confinement hog operations. Besides the North Dakota Sow Center, with its 10,000 sows total, here is Jarolimek's list of the largest players in the state: North Dakota Sow Cooperative at Larimore and Lakota, each with 5,000 sows, both farrow-to-wean; Zikmund Brothers, Conway, N.D., 600 sows, farrow-to-finish; Hexagon Pork, Cando, 6,000 sows, farrow-to-finish.
Several other significant players, Hutterite colonies -- all with farrow-to-finish setups in -- include Forest River (N.D.) Colonies, 800 sows; Maple River Colony in Fullerton, N.D., 750 sows; Spring Creek Colony in Forbes, N.D., 800 sows; Sundale Colony in Milnor, N.D., 600 sows; and Fairview Colony in LaMoure, N.D., 1,000 sows.
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Jarolimek said the recession has made obtaining loans to build these kinds of facilities more-or-less impossible -- for now.
"Once we pass over these issues we're dealing with -- the recession, the flu scare -- you're going to see more growth in North Dakota," he said.
Certain Asian countries are seeking direct production and direct processing.
"Animals could be raised here and processed for specialty markets in an Asian country, and then shipped there in shipping containers that start on rail cars and go on barges," he said.
"North Dakota has excellent rail to the West Coast, and we can ship container loads of meat to the Asian market. I think there is a huge opportunity and an uncultivated field in pork production in North Dakota."
