In 1905, Guy L. Hord purchased a tract of land that would begin the lineage of the Hord family farming in North-central Ohio. Over his lifetime, he grew to tend to over 500 acres, farming row crops, a fruit orchard and hogs that helped feed his family of twelve children.

 

Robert M. Hord was one of Guy's twelve children that never lost his "itch" to farm and in 1946, Robert M. began farming with 140 acres of rented land and ten hogs of his own. From the first litters of those ten hogs, he raised 82 pigs within a wooded lot. At this time, there was a ceiling on hog prices at 16-18 cents per pound because of World War II. Just before those hogs were to be sold, the ceiling was lifted because the war had ended. Robert received 32 cents per pound and used the profit to make the down payment on our Marion-Melmore Road Farm, which was the birthplace of the business, in 1948.

 

Over the next several decades, hog farming continued to be an integral part of our family's diversified operations as Robert’s son Duane joined the family business. Duane built several buildings and purchased more sows for continued operations. During this time, he grew his crop farm significantly to include 2800 acres. This enabled the family to use their grain to feed the increasing number of hogs. 

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In 1987, Duane’s son, Patrick, entered the operation, focusing his efforts on the hog business. As the swine industry continued to grow more and more competitive, the family had tough decisions to make, but Pat decided to enhance their operational strategies and expand, so that they too could remain competitive. Pat and his wife Janel added several thousand head of sows and significant amounts of infrastructure and human capital to grow the business. 

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Today, Patrick's daughter, Colleen, and son, Phil, have now entered the family business and our scope has expanded to include hundreds of team members and growing partners and thousands of row crops and animals. We continue to utilize the latest technologies and animal husbandry practices, and are dedicated to ensuring production of quality food products that you'd feel comfortable feeding your family. Throughout time we have increased our knowledge and understanding of animals and agriculture and strive to be the best at what we do each day. We are dedicated to ensuring sustainable production to feed families for many years to come.