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Mark and Phyllis Legan started farming in 1989, and in 2010, they were joined in the operation by their daughter and son-in-law, Beth and Nick Tharp.

“Fourteen years ago when Beth and Nick joined the farm, we adopted a system called the Entrepreneurial Operating System,” Mark said. As part of that system, Legan Livestock and Grain established what the entire family refers to as its four “core values.”

The Legans and Tharps operate a 2,200-sow breed-to-wean enterprise in Putnam County. They also grow corn and soybeans, and the Tharps have a freezer meat operation called LT Farm Meats, which offers pork, beef and lamb.

“We’re a pig farm first and always have been,” Beth explained. “We’re focused on the livestock, though we raise corn and soybeans as well.”

“The core values are integral to us, our operation and our family – and also with each one of our employees,” Nick said. They are:

• Integrity, which means “Doing what’s right when no one is looking,” Nick explained.
• Relationships “with God, family, employees, community and consumers.”
• Continuous improvement, which means “being better tomorrow than we are today.”
• Stewardship, which refers to taking care of family, employees, land, water, animals and the greater community.

Mark and Phyllis are first-generation farmers. Mark’s first exposure to farming was when he was a teenager and a neighbor offered him $2 an hour to help with his pigs. He eventually went to Purdue University and majored in animal science, graduating in 1982.

He spent seven years as an extension educator (then known as an extension agent), but he returned to Purdue to get his master’s in ag economics, grading papers for legendary ag econ professor Dr. Bob Taylor. The Legans started Legan Livestock and Grain in 1989.

“It was a tumultuous time in farming,” Mark said. “If it wasn’t for the Extension experience, we would not be farming. If it wasn’t for Dr. Bob Taylor, we would not be farming.”

He added, “Extension taught me a lot – not only technical knowledge but I also learned a lot about working with people. It’s a huge benefit.”

It was while he was with Purdue Extension that Mark and Phyllis met, married and had Beth. Phyllis had a degree in elementary education and no background in agriculture, but she was willing to take a chance on farming, too.

“I met this guy, and I fell in love, and I believed in him. I also really loved animals, and I knew he was interested in livestock, so I was willing to jump in and do whatever,” Phyllis said.

Nick and Beth met at Purdue and joined the farm in 2010. Nick is now director of pork operations, while Beth handles accounting, finance and risk management.

While the core values might sound philosophical, according to the Legans and the Tharps, they are applied in specific and concrete ways. For example, the “Relationships” core value is exemplified by the Legans’ and Tharps’ long-time relationships with the two farms that finish the weaned pigs.

“We have LLCs with the Morton family in Boone County and the Douglas family in Shelby County,” Mark explained. Through this arrangement, they finish out about 60,000 pigs per year.

“We have a marketing contract with the packer, but we work in partnership with two other families that actually finish those pigs,” Nick explained. “That way they have an ownership interest in the pigs as well as we do. We work closely with them.”

“We’ve done nothing by ourselves,” Mark added.

LT Farm Meats is also a form of relationship building, Nick and Beth said. Besides selling meat to local consumers, the family makes a point of donating to the local food bank as well as other organizations.

“It’s an opportunity to provide back to our community in a very tangible way,” Nick said.

To find out more about Legan Livestock and Grain as well as LT Farm Meats, visit www.ltfarmmeats.com. Or you can read a special feature on LT Farm Meats found in the winter 2024-25 edition of My Indiana Home, www.my-indiana-home.com.