Cindy Madsen is a member of Audubon County Family Farms, a group of producers who believe in healthy farms raising healthy families. They work together to market their products directly to the consumer. Four producers use hooped structures in their hog production, two'sell chickens and eggs, one has antibiotic-free beef, as well as other products. All have very diverse, sustainable farming systems. It helps to have a state-inspected small processor available 20 miles from Audubon.

Gary Malenke of Sioux-Preme Packing shared insights from the packer's perspective. His company's primary business had used mostly frozen carcasses until they began working with Farmland Foods and started to custom cut their own hogs in early 1997. In a constantly changing business, he said Sioux-Preme had trouble establishing an identity in a very competitive primal cuts market. One strategy has been to focus on lighter weight pigs, which work well for food service. To differentiate themselves, they went to customers not being served by the mainstream packers.