Hog Farmer Makes Giving a Tradition
Published: Friday, December 1, 2023
Giving back is on many people's minds as Indiana plunges deeper into the holiday season. One farmer, who raises hogs, corn, soybeans and wheat in Cass County, makes it a point to donate to his community every year.
Matt Paschen of Logansport has been active in supporting his community for as long as he can remember. His parents instilled in him the value of serving and donating to local residents and organizations from a young age, and he plans to do the same with his family.
"My kids are 3, 5 and 7 (years old). I want them to see the importance of giving back to the community as well. And what better way than to lead by example?" he said. "They're fairly young and impressionable, so the best time to teach them is when they're that age. My parents did the same thing."
He donated last year to his local food charity and took his young daughters, AnneMarie, 7, Magnolia, 5, and Caroline, 3. Paschen is also active as a board member for the Indiana Pork Assn. and is in his second term. As a board member, he has traveled to Washington, D.C. to advocate for Hoosier pork producers, speaking to senators and representatives.
Last year was the first time he took his daughters along to teach them the importance of giving back, and he made plans to do so this year as well. He delivered ground pork from two of his hogs last Friday to the Macy Food Pantry in northern Miami County.
"People don't have it as fortunate as I do. It's getting harder to make ends meet for everyone. I have the ways and the means, and I feel like I should give back," he said.
Paschen partnered with Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry to cover the processing fees of the two hogs, each with a hanging weight of roughly 201 pounds.
In the past, he has donated to organizations such as the Salvation Army and other national humanitarian groups, but this year he "thought it would be better to donate to something more grassroots and local that probably doesn't have as much recognition and help from the community as something more established," he said.
"There's always a fundraiser around here. And if someone is looking for a hog, I usually donate one if it's a good cause," he said. "But like I said, we're in a unique position. We're an independent farrow-to-finish operation, so we own every single hog that's on our farm," he said.
It is harder for hog farmers who raise swine on contract to donate because they have to gain permission from the integrators to do so, and that isn't always possible.
Paschen's farm consists of 350 head of sows and 1,800 acres of row crops. Each year he markets approximately 6,300 hogs a year and plants about 70 acres of tillage radish as cover crops in the wheat fields. He also applies manure from his hog operation on the fields to cut down on the amount of synthetic fertilizer used. The Paschens have three full-time employees.
Paschen is a fifth-generation farmer and works with his father, Allen, and grandfather, Bob. The farm was founded by his great-great-grandfather after he emigrated from Germany in the early 1900s. Matt married his wife, Jessica, 10 years ago after meeting her in graduate school at Purdue University, where he was studying entomology with a focus on chemical ecology. However, he knew he wanted to raise his children on a farm, so he returned to the family farm rather than continuing with his doctorate.
"I wanted them to grow up in the same setting as I did," Paschen said of his daughters. "Teach them some good work ethic."
In addition to raising hogs, row crops and cover crops, Paschen also maintains a herd of 25 Angus and Shorthorn cows with two fat cattle lots. They sell freezer beef and pork to the Logansport community.
As the charitable farmer continues to advocate for his community through agriculture, he hopes to pass down his "passion" for service to the next generation.
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