Steve Meine honored by Minnesota Pork Board
Steve Meine spent 13 years working at a feed manufacturing plant until he was approached by John Schwartz and offered a job as a supervisor; Meine decided to accept the position. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to work with pigs the rest of my life,” said Meine, “but I went home and talked to my wife and decided that I would take the job for now and work for a couple years.” Twenty years later, Meine is now the manager of the Grow-Finish Production for Schwartz Farms and can’t image working anywhere else. Meine’s integrity and commitment to doing what is right have earned him the honor of 2016 Swine Manager of the Year.
Meine’s selection was recently announced in the Minnesota Pork Congress magazine. He will be honored and will be presented the award during the Minnesota Pork Producers Association annual Pork Congress January 19-20 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The following information from the magazine was provided to the Advance-Press by Schwartz Farms:
When Meine began working with Schwartz Farms in October of 1995, he was the only wean-finish supervisor. He oversaw approximately 15 independent farm families and scheduled five loads of pigs per week to one processor. Today Meine manages and monitors 24 wean-finish supervisors, territory and regional managers and schedules more than 100 loads of pigs a week. He has been successful in developing relationships throughout his 20 years with over 150 independent farm families. Throughout the growth of the company, Meine has been instrumental in making Schwartz Farms, Inc. what it is today.
“I believe in leading by example,” said Meine. “I encourage all of my supervisors to walk the pens and treat pigs just like the grower does to show them that we take pride in doing the job right.”
In addition to working with supervisors, Meine also develops and maintains excellent relationships with processors. Schwartz Farms is co-leading the Pork for the European Union program of ractopamine free pigs. Meine is in charge of making sure the right pigs make it to the right processing plant at the right time. Coordinating the pickup and delivery of pigs requires great attention to detail and good relationships to make short-term adjustments when things don’t go as planned. Meine has worked hard to develop those relationships and establish trust between everyone with whom he works.
“Meine is a wonderful individual who has grown with and developed both the pork industry and Schwartz Farms,” said John Schwartz, CEO and President of Schwartz Farms, Inc. “He exudes the values of Schwartz Farms, Inc. – integrity, respect, excellence, innovation and adaptability – and I could not be more humbled, or proud of having him a part of our team.”
“It’s all about respect,” said Meine. “If you approach a situation with the attitude that we are all in this together to accomplish the same goal, you will be successful.”
“From the beginning I was accepted like family,” said Meine. Now all of his family is a part of Schwartz Farms. Meine’s son Andrew is the maintenance manager, his daughter Abby is married to Brian Schwartz, and his youngest daughter Angela married Andy Cook, who was one of the supervisors that Meine managed.
Meine and his wife, Maxine, have also been very active in the Brown County Pork Producers helping to organize grilling and promotional events. Meine is active in his church and has volunteered at the Oink Booth at the Minnesota State Fair. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his grandchildren and riding motorcycles with his wife. “I hope to continue doing the best that I can,” said Meine. “I like the people I work with and believe in what they are doing.”