Eldon and his father Don started farming together in 1963 when Eldon

graduated from the University of Illinois with an animal science degree.

Prior to that, Don had worked extensively in agriculture, but not on his own

operation.

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Eldon and Sandra purchased the 160-acre “home farm” in 1968 and built a

house there in 1975. Various hog buildings were built over the years, starting

with a farrowing house in 1972 and most recently a breeding and gestation

building in 1996. Eldon currently produces 17,000 piglets annually for a local

hog production network.

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Eldon also started constructing a grain handling facility in 1978. The grain

storage site has grown over the years to 320,000 bushels in bins as well as

180,000 bushels of flat storage.

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Chris returned to start helping on the farm after graduating from the University of Illinois and serving in the Navy for 10 years. He initially started helping with accounting and field operations, and then assumed all management roles when Eldon was appointed to a position at the USDA in the fall of 2005. Chris retained management roles after Eldon’s return to the farm in 2008, but relies heavily on Eldon’s experience and expertise.

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Since that time, total farmed acres have more than tripled, with the hog operation continuing all the while. The Gould family continues to look for opportunities to expand the operation to make room for future generations.