Robert N. Perry will be recognized Dec. 2, 2011 as the Northeast Missouri Livestock Person of the Year. He will be honored during the Missouri Livestock Symposium at the Kirksville Middle School, Kirksville, MO.

Perry has been an active livestock producer and an advocate for quality livestock production in northeast Missouri his entire life. His dedication and service to the community, region and state represent the essence of the award, which honors livestock leaders from northeast Missouri who have made significant contributions to the progress and well-being of the livestock industry.

“Selected by performance, evaluated by comparison” is the foundation motto for the success of “Perry Farms.

With his father’s encouragement, Bob and his brother, John, entered a program for young boys sponsored by a prominent Missouri lawyer, W.G. Lewellen. Lewellen owned a farm in the country and supported young men who wanted to raise purebred hogs. He provided the boys with bred sows to raise on their own farm, then purchased pigs from the boys, paying incentives for weight gain. Lewellen allowed the boys to keep every third gilt from each litter to start their own herds.