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Pigging Out in the Panhandle


A sow farm in Texas County. Courtesy photo of Seaboard Foods


By JuliAnn Graham


C


hris Tuttle graduated from Guymon High School in 1994 unsure of where his future would lead. A lifelong Guymon, Okla., resident with close family ties to the area, he wanted to stay close to home. He went to school for a semester at the local uni- versity, Oklahoma Panhandle State University (OPSU) in Goodwell, Okla. Then he decided to take some time off school and work full time. Thinking he was just getting by for a while, he went to work on one of the new sow farms owned by Seaboard Foods. Little did he know, he was starting a long-term career with what was to be- come part of a Fortune 500 company. Tuttle left Seaboard in May of 1996 to join the Army as an emergency medical technician/firefight- er. He returned to the area to attend OPSU after serving. He earned his bachelor’s in biology with a minor in chemistry. Upon graduation, he rejoined Seaboard Foods as an assistant manager at a sow farm. From there, he became a farm manager over- seeing a 5,000-head sow farm near Elkhart, Kan. Seaboard Foods diversified in the Panhandle by opening a biodiesel plant in March 2008 near its pork processing plant in Guymon. The plant is part of High Plains Bioenergy, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seaboard Foods. Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils and animal fat, such as the pork fat from the Guymon plant, and can be used with petroleum-based diesel fuel in many applications. “I heard the biodiesel plant was looking for folks


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50 years. Today, his parents are retired and his wife Denise Lunt, a certified public accountant, keeps the books. The couple is active in the com- munity, involved in organizations like the local homeless shelter, community theater and cham- ber of commerce.


“I’ve been involved in the homeless shelter from the very start,” Rothschopf said. “It’s very rewarding. It’s really neat to see some of the peo- ple who have gone on to make homes and liveli- hoods here.”


Meat is packaged at the Guymon pork processing facility. Photo courtesy of Seaboard Foods


with a chemistry background and that was right up my alley,” Tuttle, today a shift supervisor at the biodiesel plant, said. “I was able to transfer from the farm to the plant. That’s what Seaboard Foods means when it says it is a fully integrated company.”


While Tuttle was able to return home thanks to Seaboard Foods, some local businesses were able to thrive as a result of the company locating its pork processing plant and related facilities in Guymon in the 1990s.


“Prospects were not good before Seaboard Foods came to town,” K.C. Rothschopf, owner of Guymon’s Lumber Mart, said. “It’s affected our business in a positive way.”


Rothschopf’s family has owned Lumber Mart for


Like the Rothschopfs, Seaboard Foods employ- ees have also been integral to the community where they live. Jim Norris, who works at the pork processing plant, serves on the city council and his term as Guymon’s mayor expires this year.


The employees raise funds and give their time to various community causes as well. For example, they are a major part of the annual Relay for Life of Texas County.


“Seaboard is a big corporate sponsor,” Sheila Blankenship, owner of The Hooker Advance newspa- per and the accounting chair for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Texas County, said. “They have provided cash donations and meat for raffles and meals. But their team is where their strength is and that’s their employees.” She said employees contribute through a payroll deduction system and also hold various fundraisers throughout the year.


David Watkins, recruiting manager at Seaboard


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