Hometown: Buffalo, Mo.
Family: Wife Dawn, two adult sons and three grandchildren
In Town: Dan Sheckler is a health and life insurance professional licensed in 11 states. He is an agent for HealthMarkets Insurance and covers a territory spanning Southeast Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.
“I really enjoy working with my customers to assure that they have the best plan for their individual life situations,” Dan said.
Dan has been an active member of Rotary in Buffalo since 2017.
In the Country: Dan was born in Illinois and by the eighth grade he was renting and farming land to produce row crops in Northcentral Illinois.
Relocating to Southwest Missouri was somewhat of a shock because most of the land is more suitable for livestock rather than crops. Dan and his wife purchased about 40 acres, 10 of which are in pasture and the rest in woods.
Dan raises Angus/Charlotte cross feeder calves, 40 meat chickens a year and keeps about a dozen laying hens. Future plans including adding meat rabbits to the mix.
His primary focus is developing a small herd Hereford swine, a breed unique to the United States. In the early 19th century, R. U. Weber of La Plata, Mo., was known for breeding medium-size hogs that had the coloring of the Hereford cattle breed. Between 1902 and 1925, several breeders in Iowa and Nebraska began developing their own Hereford-colored animals from Duroc, Chester White and Poland China breeds. The National Hereford Hog Association was formed in 1934.
“I like the Hereford hogs because the animals are usually very docile and easy for children to produce and show. They thrive on pasture and are very hardy. Boars can weigh up to 800 pounds and sows about 600,” Dan said. “I have four pig pens with both mist and ventilation. I am working on fencing wooded areas so the sows can forage at will.”
Dan leaves his boar with the sow for two to three days, then returns him to a boar pen. The piglets mature rapidly, often ready to process within six months.
“I am planning my next litter to be show quality and want to make sure they are priced so high school FFA members can afford quality animals,” Dan said. “The sows have between eight and 12 piglets and it will be important to keep up the registrations and assure the animals I keep for breeding comply with the strict color requirements as well as conformation standards. My granddaughter is particularly interested in showing so we will be working with her in the future.”
