January 2025 - Journal Final - Flipbook - Page 14
Customers
PURSUING Growth AT
WINCREEK FARMS
Faith, Family, Farming, and Fun with the Winter Family.
For Chris Winter of Wincreek Farms in Boyden, Iowa,
farming has always been a family affair. Alongside his
wife Courtney, their three children—Cambry, Caylyx,
and Casen—and his parents Paul and Kim, Chris has
built a life rooted in agriculture, community, and a
shared passion for raising pigs.
Chris re昀氀ects on the evolution of their operation: “We
built our 昀椀rst barn in 2007 as custom growers. For
seven years, we focused on growing for others. Over
time, we expanded, built more barns, and started
owning more of our pigs.” By 2017, Wincreek Farms
had shifted to full ownership of their pigs and added
custom farming into their business model. “It was a
nerve-wracking leap, but we felt that owning our pigs
was necessary to grow and remain competitive in
the industry.” Today, Wincreek Farms 昀椀nishes around
62,000 pigs annually, utilizing both their barns and
partnerships with other farmers in the region.
Their journey into sow ownership took another
signi昀椀cant step in 2022 when they purchased shares in
a Kansas sow farm managed by Pipestone. “We had
never owned our own sows before,” Chris shares. “It’s
been a great experience. It’s given us consistency in pig
14 | PIPESTONE JOURNAL
health and pricing, making it easier to plan and market
our pigs.” The pigs from this sow farm make their way
to farms in northwest Iowa and southern Minnesota.
Since a lot of the shareholders are local to these areas,
it keeps things close to home, which is important to
Chris.
Partnering for Success
Collaboration with Pipestone has been a gamechanger for the Winters. Chris emphasizes the bene昀椀ts
of their relationship: “Through tools like FarmStats [a
service offering production records and benchmarking],
we’ve gained valuable insights into our operation.
Comparing our performance to other farms helps us
identify areas for improvement. We’re not always the
best, but we’re always striving to do better.”
