Cooper Farms creates hog-growing video

VW independent/submitted information

OAKWOOD — Cooper Farms has released a video series on hog farming and environmental care on the company’s social media platforms and YouTube.

As Cooper Farms continues to grow and builds relationships in new areas, the videos will serve as a way for the company to introduce itself, explain what it does and the opportunities it offers people to be contract growers.

“We’re growing. We’re always getting new neighbors and we want to be clear to those people, and with those who already know us, about what it is we do,” said Director of Live Production Terry Wehrkamp.

Cooper Farms partners with local family farms to raise animals. These videos will show the procedures the company follows to have the least possible impact on the environment, and especially, the neighboring communities.

“We have a reputation of being good neighbors,” said Wehrkamp. “It’s not just something we say, it’s something we do. We want to be transparent with our neighbors and show them that we want to do things the right way.”

Cooper Farms uses a very intricate process when it comes to choosing not only its sites for new barns, but the type of quality leaders necessary to run them.

“When we enter into a partnership with a grower, it’s a decades-long partnership,” said Wehrkamp. “Because of that, we put a lot of effort into getting to know each other up front and getting to know the management style of that farmer.”

The first video, “Becoming a Cooper Farms Grower,” has now been released on social media and YouTube, with an additional installment released per month through April 2019.