Before becoming Nebraska’s governor three years ago, Jim Pillen built a multimillion-dollar hog enterprise. Casting himself as a conservative businessman who would grow the state’s economy, he defeated a Trump-backed candidate in the Republican primary.
Pillen Family Farms, owned by Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, has about 100 hog farms across the state, including Inland Foods in Hastings. Pigs on the site, a former munitions depot, are housed in converted bunkers.
The Wholestone Farms facility in the town of Fremont. The Pillen family is a minority owner of the meat processing plant and processes a significant amount of pork there.
Pigs arrive to the Wholestone Farms facility for slaughter in the town of Fremont. The Pillen family is a minority owner of the meat processing plant and processes a significant amount of pork there.
An anonymous employee of the Inland Foods hog operation in Hastings. The facility, connected to Pillen Family Farms, is comprised of repurposed old nuclear missile silos and bunkers now used to house hogs.
Yanqi Xu is a reporter for Flatwater Free Press. She examined the agricultural industry in Nebraska as a part of The New York Times’s Local Investigations Fellowship. The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.
Pillen Family Farms, owned by Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, has about 100 hog farms across the state, including Inland Foods in Hastings. Pigs on the site, a former munitions depot, are housed in converted bunkers.
The Wholestone Farms facility in the town of Fremont. The Pillen family is a minority owner of the meat processing plant and processes a significant amount of pork there.
An anonymous employee of the Inland Foods hog operation in Hastings. The facility, connected to Pillen Family Farms, is comprised of repurposed old nuclear missile silos and bunkers now used to house hogs.
Pigs arrive to the Wholestone Farms facility for slaughter in the town of Fremont. The Pillen family is a minority owner of the meat processing plant and processes a significant amount of pork there.
