ABSTRACT
This chapter provides details about the organization and functioning of networks among Iowa's farmers, and explains the groundwork for a broader understanding of where networks fit in the swine sector of Iowa's agricultural economy. While Clinton Quality Pork was located in sparsely populated southwest Iowa, Jerry Nagle's network was to be located in the rolling hills of eastern Iowa near Cedar Rapids, an area dotted with the rural homes of urban workers. Wellington Feeder Pig was established to provide its members with a consistent supply of feeder pigs in the face of the declining market. Valley Pork started in northeast Iowa in 1976 as one of the feeder pig coops that were popular in the 1970s. Conway Pork, like Valley Pork, was located in northeast Iowa and started in the 1970s as a sow cooperative. In Anton, Iowa Don Smith runs a two-man veterinary practice out of the offices where his father once practiced veterinary medicine.
