Neil Albertson

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  Chesters tradition - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 9/2/2003    Last Visited: 9/2/2003  

  Neil Albertson checks his herd on his Mahaska County seedstock operation.
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  FREMONT - A history of raising Chester Whites on their Mahaska County farm is a main reason Master Seedstock Producers Neil and Lisa Albertson have continued the tradition.
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  "The breed has been here for nearly 80 years, and we still use most of the same buildings, too," says Neil Albertson.
  
  The Albertsons and their two sons, Travis, 19, a Kirkwood Community College student, and Casey, 16, an Eddyville-Blakes-burg High School sophomore, have about 60 purebred sows.
  
  ‘'We also cross some breeds to get club pigs for the boys to show and sell.The bulk of the sows are Chesters, but we also have some Yorks and recently acquired some Hamps," Albertson says.
  
  There have been many trends over the years, but he has stuck with the Chesters.The South Central Iowa producer says the breed is becoming more popular because of superior meat quality.
  
  Albertson scans all of his replacement gilts and boars to determine which excel in meat quality and which have less lean.
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  Albertson mostly sells boars and gilts privately but also attends shows to promote his hogs.
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  Albertson says producers once wanted four to six boars; the smaller producers now want one to three.
  
  He says buyers used to be close by but now will travel farther to get to a purebred breeder.
  
  Sows farrow from January through March and in September and October.Most Midwesterners want spring-born pigs, but when he is marketing show pigs in the South, he sells fall-borns.
  
  About six herd boars are used for breeding.He collects a few to send semen to partners.He uses artificial insemination, mostly when breeding for show pigs.
  
  Albertson has kept his herd pretty much closed through the years.
  
  The only gilts brought into the herd are the Hampshires he bought after a neighbor died.Otherwise, he buys boars only to bring in new bloodlines.
  
  He plans to keep about 60 sows.
  
  "That's a good number for me, since I'm doing most of it myself and I have so many other activities going on."Albertson has served several years as the president of the Iowa Chester White Association.
  
  He's also on the Iowa Purebred Swine Council, just finished two terms on the National Chester White board, is a member of the Mahaska County Pork Producers, and is a swine superintendent at the Southern Iowa Fair in Oska-loosa.
  
  Besides raising hogs, he and his family grow 1,300 acres of corn and soybeans.Albertson hopes he will be able to build a new sow barn in the next year.
  
  ‘‘We have gotten by with what we have for a long time, but some of the buildings are starting to show some wear, so I'd like to make some improvements."Albertson says that while raising hogs is in his blood, the best thing about raising hogs and going to shows is the people.

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  Chesters tradition - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/14/2002    Last Visited: 2/14/2002  

  Neil Albertson checks his herd on his Mahaska County seedstock operation.
  ...
  FREMONT - A history of raising Chester Whites on their Mahaska County farm is a main reason Master Seedstock Producers Neil and Lisa Albertson have continued the tradition.
  ...
  "The breed has been here for nearly 80 years, and we still use most of the same buildings, too,'' says Neil Albertson.
  
  The Albertsons and their two sons, Travis, 19, a Kirkwood Community College student, and Casey, 16, an Eddyville-Blakes-burg High School sophomore, have about 60 purebred sows.
  
  ‘'We also cross some breeds to get club pigs for the boys to show and sell.

• 
  Chesters tradition - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/9/2001    Last Visited: 10/31/2004  

  Neil Albertson checks his herd on his Mahaska County seedstock operation.
  ...
  FREMONT , A history of raising Chester Whites on their Mahaska County farm is a main reason Master Seedstock Producers Neil and Lisa Albertson have continued the tradition.
  ...
  "The breed has been here for nearly 80 years, and we still use most of the same buildings, too,'' says Neil Albertson.

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