Fri, Sep 05 2008
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Published October 23, 2007 09:36 pm - LAMAR, Mo. — T.J. Onstott is part of the new face of family farming in Barton County. In 2006, he created the Cayuga Creek Farm on his family’s farm and has contracted with Synergy LLC to raise pigs to fill in some of the blank spots in the family budget. Hog-producing company says it’s in growth mode By Melissa Dunson
mdunson@joplinglobe.com LAMAR, Mo. — T.J. Onstott is part of the new face of family farming in Barton County. In 2006, he created the Cayuga Creek Farm on his family’s farm and has contracted with Synergy LLC to raise pigs to fill in some of the blank spots in the family budget. He also is a crop farmer who raises cattle. “I went to school, but always wanted to find a way to come back to the farm,” Onstott said. Onstott, who has a business degree from Missouri Southern State University, is raising 2,600 nursery pigs for 45 days at a time. He raises about seven groups of the 3-week-old hogs each year. Onstott said he is simply trying to make a living and would rather not talk about the controversy associated with the new hog farms in the county that have pitted neighbor against neighbor. Those opposed to large-scale hog farms, such as the Richland Township zoning board, say that Synergy and another company, Kenoma, have connections with large corporations that use Barton County resources to benefit investors in other states. Synergy recently opened the doors to several of its contract farms, including the contested Richland Township farm, to community leaders in the area. Dan Cross, general manager of Synergy, said his company isn’t trying to disguise its corporate connections by giving individual farms separate corporate names, but that decentralization equals better business for Synergy and the company’s contract growers. The company is in a growth mode. Synergy currently has 6,200 sows and nursery space for 20,700 pigs. In one week, Synergy weans 2,900 pigs, hauls 2,700 pigs from Missouri to Iowa for finishing, and sends 2,600 pigs to market. Synergy had $2.17 million in gross sales in its first year. Cross said this year the company made about $15 million. In the future, Cross said Synergy wants to have 25,000 sows, 200,000 finishing spaces, and market 550,000 pigs a year. Eventually, the company will grow to 100 employees and have $65 million in annual sales. “The biggest difference between us and other companies is that we don’t own the facilities right now in the way we do business,” Cross said. “They (the farmers) build the facilities and raise the pigs for us. It’s like an aggregate company. “From a business perspective, we only want to own the pigs, we’re not in the business of owning and managing facilities. And it’s good for them, because the farmer gains equity in his buildings and generates family living money.” 
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