Dave Uttecht Earns Pork All-American Producer Honor

Dave Uttecht has earned the Pork All-American 2000 award from the South Dakota Pork Producers Council. The National Pork Producers Council began the Pork All-American award program in 1970, to acknowledge producers who have established themselves as dedicated, involved business people and leaders in their community. Only one producer from each participating NPPC member state receives the award each year.

After earning a BS degree in Animal Science, and a Masters degree in Swine Nutrition, Dave worked in the swine feed business for several years before becoming a pork producer. Dave’s start as a swine producer came when he received a call from his friend Stan Kopfmann, the owner of Stan’s Feed and Grain in Alpena South Dakota. At the time, Dave was working for Land O’ Lakes in Norfolk, Nebraska. Stan had made a sales call to Jim McPeak in an attempt to get the feed business for Great Plains Swine at White Lake, South Dakota. Instead of discussing feed, Stan said that he and Jim had talked mostly about the opportunities in the swine production business. When Jim asked Stan why he wasn’t also in the swine business, he started thinking that maybe he should be. Stan believed that he knew the ideal person to run such a production unit, and made the call to Dave in August of 1993. Stan had known Dave most of his life, as Dave and Stan’s son Mike were close friends, and Stan knew how much Dave loved the swine business. When Stan asked Dave what he thought of getting into the swine business, Dave believed it was the opportunity of a lifetime. By the end of October, construction of Heartland Pork, an 800-sow farrow-to-finish unit near Alpena was underway.

It was Dave’s attention to detail that most impressed Stan. “Dave is a smart man with common sense, an unusual combination”, according to Stan. In 1994, they populated the newly constructed Heartland Pork with Babcock genetics. The success of this first unit prompted Dave and Stan to expand Heartland Pork to 2,000 sows in 1996.

Stan was not surprised when Dave was named Pork All-American – according to Stan, “Dave is devoted to the swine business.” Dave has served as president of the Jerauld/Sanborn County Pork Producers, and is currently the treasurer. He serves on the South Dakota Pork Producers Council Public Policy Committee, and is involved in the South Dakota Department of Environmental and Natural Resources discussions on permitting. Dave also earned the Master Pork Producer award in 1996-97.

Dave’s primary goal was not just to survive in the pork industry, but to thrive. In order to adapt to today’s changing industry, Dave relies heavily on both his education and experience to meet this goal by maximizing facility resources, the implementation of detail-oriented management, and innovative marketing practices. Dave uses Babcock’s Closed Herd™ program with 100% A.I., to raise all replacement gilts on-site.

In light of the success of Heartland Pork, Dave believed that the knowledge he had acquired could help other pork producers. In 1997 he created Alpena Marketing and Management, a swine marketing and management company. The goal of this management company is to provide marketing and management services for other pork producers so that they could also thrive in the pork business.

Today, Dave and his wife Angie live in rural Alpena with their children Lauren, age 7, and Andrew, age 4, where Dave devotes much of his time to helping other producers through Alpena Marketing. Because of the growth of the management company, Dave has had to limit his daily involvement with his own farm. He still doesn’t take success for granted, after all, it was his attention to detail that facilitated his success.