Mike Atzenhoefer

Head of Farrowing

Mike's start in the pork industry began in 1983 when his family moved to the Trimont area, where they had a handful of sows on the family farm. After high school, he briefly pursued accounting at Mankato State before realizing it wasn't for him and following his passion back to pigs — earning his degree in Animal Science from the University of Minnesota-Waseca. Early in his career, Mike worked at farms throughout southern Minnesota in just about every role imaginable, from breeding and farrowing to wean-to-finish and everything in between.

Mike joined Wakefield in 1994, starting in nursery and finish duties at the Langhorst "home farm." Over his 30-plus years with the company, he has managed multiple sow farms, served as a Farrowing Field Supervisor visiting sites to improve production, and steadily taken on greater responsibility. Today, as Head of Farrowing, Mike oversees all sows in Wakefield's system — a drastic increase from the handful of sows he grew up with on the family farm. Mike and his wife Ann reside in Lafayette.