CONRAD — Dean Frazer was given a pig to raise when he was eight years old. At nine, he purchased a Hampshire sow for a 4-H project.

Fifty-two years later, he is still doing it albeit on a much larger scale. And he has help from his spouse Linda, son Grant and daughter-in-law Josie.

“They are full-time partners on the farm,” he said.

The family raises about 38,000 head a year along with corn and soybeans on their farm north of Conrad in Grundy County.

“We are raising pigs on the same farm I grew up on,” he said.

Frazer, 61, also said much has changed in the industry — especially in the last 30-35 years — but the family has adjusted. He clearly remains passionate about the viability of the product in a competitive environment where consumers have their choice of beef, chicken and other protein-based products.

The “Taste What Pork Can Do” campaign initiated by the National Pork Producers (NPP) is an effort to alert consumers to pork’s convenience, nutrition, versatility and value. With beef prices at record highs, more consumers have been turning to chicken and pork, which is less expensive at supermarkets, according to Chad Hart, a professor of economics at Iowa State University.

He made those remarks during a presentation to agri-businesspeople, farmers and livestock producers in January at a program sponsored by GNB at the American Legion in Marshalltown. Campaigns by the NPP also emphasize that pork producers are raising their producing responsibility while being good stewards of the environment.

Frazer has significant resources to follow through on his passion in his role as president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA), headquartered in Clive. He was elected to that position by fellow pork producers who are also members of the IPPA.

His term began in January of this year. His term will be up at the end of 2026, and then he will serve as past president in 2027.

“I never thought I would do this,” he said. “But there are a lot less pork producers in Iowa than before, and I have a passion for the business.”

As president, he represents his fellow pork producers in Iowa, a state which produces more hogs than any other, but also advocates for pork consumption and more.

Frazer cited two major challenges pork producers face. One is Proposition 12, an initiative voted on by a majority of Californians approximately eight years ago, which went into effect January 2025.

Proposition 12 requires pork producers not only in California but nationwide to document that pigs were raised “humanely” — that is, with adequate space before pork products can be sold in supermarkets and elsewhere.

Frazer said every producer wants to raise their pigs humanely.

“Pigs have been raised humanely on Iowa farms for centuries,” he said. “It is also a trade barrier between states. There are all kinds of products in the pork world … and it is a battle we continue to fight,” he said. “It has raised food prices 20-percent in California and is hurting the poorest consumers in the state. We are hoping to get resolution in the upcoming farm bill should that ever happen.”

Frazer also said that President Trump’s tariff initiative has had an impact.

“The tariff issue in the United States changes day-to-day,” he said. “As business owners, we need a steady policy so that we can work with our trading partners.”

Frazer said he and family have been selling hogs to JBS-Marshalltown and its predecessors since the 1970s and said they have a cooperative business partner as well as Tyson’s in Waterloo.

In Iowa, the industry creates more than 120,000 full-time and part-time jobs including positions in hog production, slaughtering, processing and related activities, according to United States Department of Agriculture reports. An additional $8 million in wages are paid and $915 million in state and local taxes generated by the Iowa pork industry and related activities

For more information, contact the Iowa Pork Producers at or visit their website at 515-225-7675 or visit www.iowapork.org.