Hog wild: Praters’ farm still kicking

By AMY SATTERWHITE / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Kelly and Leah Prater’s farm on Bethany Road is as much about science as it is about nature. Kelly Prater agreed to participate in the Standard’s promotional celebration of National Pig Day. He is pictured with the couple’s son, Clay, 5.

Running the only reported large-scale pig farm in Warren County isn’t as easy as putting two pigs together and hoping for the best.

Rather, according to Kelly Prater, who breeds pigs for a commercial operation on his family farm on Bethany Road, the operation is a highly specific, scientific one.

As the farm receives the spotlight for the second year in a row as the Southern Standard continues its promotional celebration of National Pig Day today, Prater can attest to the dedication required to run the farm.

It’s a full-time job requiring much more than 40 hours per week, Prater, who runs the farm with his wife, Leah, said. Knowing a pig farm means knowing pig genetics in order to ensure the best product. A challenge for the Praters is choosing a lean boar and a sow that can produce many piglets, they said.

Kelly said pigs there are sometimes artificially inseminated. The purpose is twofold: new pigs do not have to be introduced to the farm, which cuts down on the potential for disease; and the potential to have a leaner product is greater. Pig farmers measure a pig’s “back fat,” which has continually decreased over the years and is a good thing, he added.

Additionally, the temperature of the pig barn where the piglets are born requires knowledge that pigs – sows – have a temperature of between 101 and 102 degrees and the piglets shouldn’t be exposed to temperatures less than 90 degrees.

There’s also the constant keeping of the schedule of when the piglets need to be weaned so the entire operation