Our Farm
Hogs
We raise pigs from birth to market weight. They are fed a custom, hormone free diet that changes as the animal grows to provide the best nutrition possible.
Chickens
Our involvement with chickens is two fold; We have a layer farm where thousands of fresh eggs are collected daily and we also have a pullet operation. We raise pullets to become egg laying birds for different customers and for our own egg laying farms.
Turkeys
We raise turkeys from a day old poult to a full grown market bird. The turkeys are also fed a custom diet of hormone free feed.
Crops
River View also farms about 7000 acres of corn and soybeans. Most of our crop production goes to feeding all of our animals. We also have to buy more grain from our farming neighbors to keep up with our ever growing number of mouths to feed.
How it all began...
In 1920, the original farmstead southeast of Orleans, IN was purchased by Everett and Lillie Johnson. They constructed the original 2 story brick home on the newly purchased 175-acre tract and raised cattle and swine. Their son, Leon, returned from Purdue University in 1925 and was offered a partnership to his father.
In 1934, due to a tragic accident, Everett died and the farm management was left to Leon with the help of his Mother and two sisters; Merle and Irene. At that time, Leon and Eva (Worell) were engaged and decided to go ahead and get married in October of 1934. They had three children: Lee, Donna, and Larry. Leon continued as manager of the farm for his mother, sisters and himself.
Lee graduated from Purdue in 1958 and served 6 months in the Army Reserves. He married Mary Ann (Bowers) and they had 4 children; Brent, Beth, Douglas and Amy. When he returned home he became an active member of the farm.
In 1960, in order to have an arrangement for Lee, Donna and Larry to become part of the farm operation, River View Farms was incorporated. Donna was involved in the farm operation for a short time and ended up selling her interest back to River View Farms. Larry graduated from Purdue in 1970 and returned to the farm to become part of the operation as planned. He married Natalie (Stegemiller) and they had 4 children; Bryan, Aaron, Dwane, and Cara. At this time, the managerial responsibilities were divided between Larry and Lee. Lee preferred working with hogs and Larry agreed to give his attention to the poultry. Leon retired in 1976 and withdrew from all active responsibilities.
In 1988, River View Farms became an owner of an egg laying facility in Washington, Indiana. In 2004, the Johnson family was honored with the title “Farm Family of the Year” by Agrinews and Purdue University. In 2011, an additional hog farm in Lincoln, Illinois was purchased to supplement growth of the swine operation. A new feed mill was built in 2016 and is used to manufacture feed for all the different species of livestock. River View is family owned and employs about 150 team members.
Current Leadership
River View Farms, Inc is currently owned by 4 different families and divided into 3 different areas; crops, poultry, and swine. The current managing families are descendants of Lee (Mary Ann) and Larry (Natalie) Johnson. Larry Johnson still has an interest in the farm and is retired. Doug Johnson, Lee’s son, is over our swine production and currently serves as Secretary. Doug is married to Mary (Dieg) and they have 3 children; Andrew, Michelle, and Kevin. Bryan Johnson and Aaron Johnson are Larry’s sons. Bryan Johnson oversees the poultry and feedmill areas and currently serves as President. Bryan is married to Suzanne (Adams) , who acts as Office Manager, and they have 2 children; Ashley and Dylan. Dylan joined the business in 2022 in logistics. Aaron Johnson is currently over the crops area and currently serves as Vice President. Aaron is married to Shanna (Pickens) and they have 4 children; Noah, Clark, Franklin and Ada Ruth.
Our Core Values:
Integrity
We always work to do the right thing and to live up to our commitments in practices and quality.
Compassion
We have a high level of respect and care for other people and the animals we raise. Always being aware of the needs around us and finding ways to meet those needs and to build each other up is key to our success.
Efficiency
We strive to be good stewards of our blessings as a financially sound operation is good for all stakeholders.
Our Mission
We desire to operate in a way that serves the Lord Jesus Christ through our integrity, compassion, and efficiency.
Our Purpose
To produce farm products rich in family tradition while holding to our core values and striving to make all stakeholders successful. Our stakeholders are our family owners, team members, customers, suppliers, growers and other close business partners.
Giving Back
The Johnson family of River View Farms believes in faith and community. We try to provide a positive working environment for our team members by encouraging integrity, compassion and efficiency across all relationships in the business. These characteristics will allow us to continue to build on our operation and strengthen it and our stakeholders for years to come. We feel that we have been given many blessings and we do not take that for granted as we try to give back some of what we have been given to our communities in the way of volunteering, donations, and support in any way that we can. We encourage our team members to do the same and support them in their endeavors.
We are looking for good people!
If you are interested in working in agriculture, please check out our open positions!
If you are interested in expanding your operation with a growing partnership, click below!