Powering Dirt into Dinner – Michael Phillips

By 0 Comment

Michael Phillips returned home after college to become a partner with his dad, Keith, in the family row crop operation near Kahoka in newly #AgriReady designated Clark County. When Michael’s brother, Cyrus, returned home from college, the farm needed new revenue to support another branch of the family, so Phillips Farms diversified into the pork industry. The farm built a farrow-to-finish hog operation, meaning they care for mother pigs, or sows, and raise their piglets until they grow to a marketable size to become pork. With hogs on the farm, the corn and soybeans that the family was growing had a market on the farm. Michael’s grandfather, who founded the family farm in 1948, had started an elevator operation to process grain; the family updated that infrastructure and brought it to life to operate as their own feed mill. Today. Phillips Farms operates “vertically integrated”, managing multiple production and processing steps of a product chain.

phillips 5

As Michael manages the row crop operation his goal is to increase yields on fields that are responsibly irrigated. He plants cover crops on farmland during the off-season to help return nutrients to the soil and to hold soil in place, protecting it from run-off and loss during the winter months. Michael’s plan in the next two years is to add enough storage space on the farm to keep all the corn and soybeans that they grow to be processed into hog feed.

Michael’s cousin, David, manages the feed mill. It is an advantage for the farm to be able to add value to their own grain at the feed mill. Soybeans from Phillips Farms leave the farm for a short time to be ground into soybean meal because the mill cannot process them. Adding that capacity in the next two years is the mill’s goal. The mill produces feed for each life and growth stage of the hogs by utilizing raw ingredients grown on Phillips Farms. They also grind feed for other hog producers in the area.

Cyrus Phillips manages the hog operation which houses 3,000 sows. Phillips Farms utilizes open pen gestation where boars, male pigs, aid Cyrus in identifying sows that are ready for artificial insemination (AI). Piglets born on Phillips Farms will live their entire lives there, enjoying nutritious feed from the farm and growing through a series of pens and barns designed to keep them healthy and comfortable until they reach the right size to be harvested as pork. Phillips Farms participates in the “Dirt to Dinner” value chain starting when their corn and bean seeds sprout from the earth, continuing as their grains are processed to nourish hogs, and finally when full-grown hogs are harvested to become lean, nutritious protein for consumers. The Phillips family takes it a step further by donating several hogs to local food pantries through Missouri Farmers Care’s Hogs For Hunger campaign and other food security efforts each year.

As Michael manages the row crop operation his goal is to increase yields on fields that are responsibly irrigated. He plants cover crops on farmland during the off-season to help return nutrients to the soil and to hold soil in place, protecting it from run-off and loss during the winter months. Michael’s plan in the next two years is to add enough storage space on the farm to keep all the corn and soybeans that they grow to be processed into hog feed.

Michael’s cousin, David, manages the feed mill. It is an advantage for the farm to be able to add value to their own grain at the feed mill. Soybeans from Phillips Farms leave the farm for a short time to be ground into soybean meal because the mill cannot process them. Adding that capacity in the next two years is the mill’s goal. The mill produces feed for each life and growth stage of the hogs by utilizing raw ingredients grown on Phillips Farms. They also grind feed for other hog producers in the area.

Cyrus Phillips manages the hog operation which houses 3,000 sows. Phillips Farms utilizes open pen gestation where boars, male pigs, aid Cyrus in identifying sows that are ready for artificial insemination (AI). Piglets born on Phillips Farms will live their entire lives there, enjoying nutritious feed from the farm and growing through a series of pens and barns designed to keep them healthy and comfortable until they reach the right size to be harvested as pork. Phillips Farms participates in the “Dirt to Dinner” value chain starting when their corn and bean seeds sprout from the earth, continuing as their grains are processed to nourish hogs, and finally when full-grown hogs are harvested to become lean, nutritious protein for consumers. The Phillips family takes it a step further by donating several hogs to local food pantries through Missouri Farmers Care’s Hogs For Hunger campaign and other food security efforts each year.

phillips 2

“We are glad to bless the community as we have been blessed,” Michael said.

Michael’s dad, Keith, is still active on the farm. Keith enjoys operating the bulldozer for the family construction company, MK Phillips Construction. Michael serves as the Clark County Farm Bureau president which gave him the opportunity to take an active role in the conversation surrounding Clark County’s recent Agri-Ready designation by Missouri Farmers Care.

“I am excited that Clark County is taking a pro-agriculture stance,” Michael said. ”Agriculture drives our economy in rural Missouri. Agriculture keeps more of our dollars in Clark County. The county’s pro-agriculture stance will give assurance to farmers and businesses alike.”

According to a 2021 study, value-added agriculture products account for over $46 million, almost 28% of economic activity in Clark County, making it a great area for growth.

“I look forward to the Agri-Ready program promoting Clark County to value-added agriculture ventures looking for a great place to do business,” Michael said. I hope, that among other successes, the #AgriReady designation can help Clark County realize its vision of seeing a Mississippi River port built in the county.”

Michael and his wife, Jillian, have three kids—ages 15, 12 and six—who are involved in the local FFA chapter, 4-H, showing cattle and enjoy helping around the farm with the hogs, the mill and harvest time. The Phillips family are active members of Missouri Farm Bureau, which is a partner organization of Missouri Farmers Care.

phillips 3