Pillen Family Farms in Nebraska: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Pillen Family Farms is Nebraska's largest pork producer and one of the largest in the United States, according to a 2023 Flatwater Free Press investigation. The company says it began in 1951 and now spans three generations, with farms in four states and Manitoba, its own genetics company and an ownership stake in a packing plant. That makes it a textbook example of a vertically integrated family hog business.
| Location | Columbus, Platte County, Nebraska (office); mill in Albion, Nebraska |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1951, by Dale and Dorothy Pillen, as published by the company |
| Sectors | Hogs and pork; swine genetics; feed milling; corn purchasing |
| Scale | About 71,000 sows marketing 2 million pigs a year in 2019-2020, per the company's own history; farms in four states and Manitoba |
| Why it is elite | Nebraska's largest pork producer per Flatwater Free Press; owner of DNA Genetics; founding member of Wholestone Farms |
| Ownership | Family-owned, three generations; Sarah and Brock Pillen are co-CEOs per Flatwater Free Press |
| Official website | Pillen Family Farms official site |
History of Pillen Family Farms
The company traces its roots to 1951, when Dale and Dorothy Pillen started farming after returning home from the Korean War. Dale built a barn in 1969. Jim Pillen built the PC West sow farm in 1994, and Brock and Sarah Pillen rejoined the business in 2009 as the third generation.
Flatwater Free Press reports that Jim Pillen began with about 60 sows alongside his father in the early 1980s, then built a regional business through partnerships and acquisitions. In 1993 he took a stake in Furnas County Farms and formed Progressive Swine Technologies, which was renamed Pillen Family Farms in 2012. Later came the 2013 purchase of Danbred North America and, in 2018, Wholestone Farms' Fremont packing plant. In June 2019 the company agreed to buy about 16,000 sows and their associated nursery and finishing farms in Nebraska from The Maschhoffs, as reported by National Hog Farmer.
What Pillen Family Farms Grows and Raises
Pillen Family Farms raises hogs in a system that links sow farms, nurseries, finishing barns, feed milling and genetics. The company's own history lists roughly 52,000 sows marketing 1.3 million pigs a year in 2007, rising to about 71,000 sows and 2 million pigs a year in 2019-2020. Its farms are spread over four states and Manitoba, with the headquarters on Old Mill Court in Columbus and an 80-ton-per-hour feed mill at Albion.
Genetics sit at the center of the model. The company owns DNA Genetics, which it acquired in 2003 as Danbred North America and brought fully under its control in 2013. On the processing side, Pillen became an owner of Wholestone Farms in 2018, and Flatwater Free Press reports that hogs from the family have gone to Tyson's Madison plant and to Wholestone's Fremont plant. A public corn-bids page signals that it buys grain from neighboring farms.
How Pillen Family Farms Makes Money
Hog sales and pork supply
The core revenue stream is market hogs sold to packers. Flatwater Free Press reported in 2021 that roughly half of the company's production went to Tyson's Madison plant and more than a third to Wholestone Farms.
Genetics
Through DNA Genetics the company sells swine breeding stock and genetic improvement to other producers. This spreads the business beyond the barns the family owns.
Feed and grain purchasing
The company operates a feed mill at Albion and posts corn bids on its website. Buying local corn gives nearby crop farmers a direct buyer.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Pillen Family Farms
The first lesson is that integration lowers exposure to one link in the chain. By holding positions in production, genetics, milling and packing, Pillen Family Farms can capture value in several places, and a weak spot in one stage is partly offset elsewhere. Smaller operators can borrow the idea through co-ops or marketing agreements.
The second lesson is that growth in this business has come through patient acquisition of existing farms and companies, such as the Maschhoffs sow network and Danbred, rather than only building new barns. The third is that scale brings scrutiny. Flatwater Free Press noted past waste-rule violations at some Pillen farms, so strong environmental compliance and neighbor relations are part of operating at this size.
Few farm businesses can say they started with one barn in 1969 and now think in terms of millions of pigs, which is a fine reason for a hog herd to deserve its own spot in farm.FM. Every barn in Platte County probably has its own kind of farm humor, from feed-mill coffee debates to arguments over whose corn bid is best, and a quick scroll of farm satire, farm jokes and ranch humor there is a gentle way to see how the rest of agriculture laughs at itself. We just hope the sows at Columbus find our farm jokes as oinkingly affectionate as they are meant to be.
For context, farm.FM is the nation's first satirical farm site and the home of Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers. Its contributors each keep an archive, and this one is a good sampler of ranch humor and farm jokes.
How to Contact Pillen Family Farms
Website: https://pillenfamilyfarms.com/
Address: 4438 Old Mill Court, Columbus, NE 68601
Phone: 402-564-0407
Contact details as published on the operation's own website, November 2026. The site uses a contact form rather than a public email address; confirm details before traveling or sending materials.
Pillen Family Farms Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Pillen Family Farms official site - company history, genetics and community pages
- Flatwater Free Press investigation - independent coverage of the company's growth and structure
- National Hog Farmer on the Maschhoffs deal - trade coverage of the 16,000-sow acquisition
- Nebraska Pork Producers Association - state producer group listing from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture
- USDA Census of Agriculture - national and state farm statistics from NASS
Pillen Family Farms FAQ
Where is Pillen Family Farms based?
The office is at 4438 Old Mill Court in Columbus, Nebraska, with a feed mill in Albion, Nebraska, according to the company's website.
When did Pillen Family Farms start?
The company says it began in 1951 when Dale and Dorothy Pillen started farming, and it now involves three generations of the family.
What does Pillen Family Farms own besides hog farms?
The company owns DNA Genetics, a swine genetics business, and is an owner of Wholestone Farms, which runs a pork plant in Fremont, Nebraska.
How do I contact Pillen Family Farms?
Call 402-564-0407 or use the contact form on the official website, which lists the Columbus address.
Pillen Family Farms shows how a family hog operation can grow into an integrated business that touches genetics, feed, farms and packing. For more on the state's soils, water, markets and programs, read the Nebraska farms guide and the other profiled operations.