Article content In 2024, the name Andrew J. Lovejoy isn’t widely recognized within North America’s hog industry. But more than a century ago, the farmer from the northern part of Illinois was well-known within hog circles.
He had dealings throughout North America and overseas as well as he pursued his passion for pigs. According to an article in the Rockton-Roscoe News, Lovejoy served as president of the International Livestock Exposition and following his passing in 1919, was inducted into the Saddle and Sirloin Club. He was also president of two different county fairs, was a member of the Illinois State Board of Agriculture for 12 years, and was elected to the Illinois General Assembly.
Raised on a farm along the Rock River, Lovejoy spent many years working as a travelling salesman while running his farm and building a reputation as a breeder of Berkshire pigs. At the age of 69 in 1914, he published ’40 Years’ Experience of a Practical Hog Man,’ a volume that was republished in 2019 with additional chapters attributed to Lovejoy’s contemporaries, including Prof. John M.
Evvard. Lovejoy’s knowledge of hog production was earned the old-fashioned way, through trial, error and unflinching dedication. “Beginning with a pair of young pigs many years ago, the only way anything concerning the subject has been learned has been by actual experience.
This experience has been costly, but what is learned at great expense one never forgets,” Lovejoy wrote for the introd.
