DeKalb Swine Breeders emerged from the combined efforts of Lubbock Swine Breeders Inc. of Lubbock, Texas, and DeKalb AgResearch, Inc. of DeKalb, Illinois. In the early 1960s, when the average inventory of a U.S. hog farm was only 50 hogs, Lubbock Swine Breeders principals Euel Liner and Roy Poage developed a unique total confinement system for producing large numbers of hogs by carefully controlling the rearing environment from conception through maturity. After boosting yields through hybridization of corn, chickens, and sorghum, DeKalb turned to hybridizing swine production in 1968, but recognized that disease control was essential for large-scale hog production. DeKalb identified Lubbock Swine Breeders as the nation’s leading producer of swine breeding stock because of its proprietary confinement system, and after the companies’ principals met in 1971, they concluded that a merger made clear business sense. In 1972, they merged their swine businesses into DeKalb Swine Breeders, with Roy Poage as president. Within 15 years, the company, headquartered here, became a world leader in swine breeding and helped transform the U.S. swine industry as producers adopted total confinement techniques first developed by Lubbock Swine Breeders and then refined and expanded by DeKalb Swine Breeders. By 2005, average inventory per farm had increased eighteen-fold to 900 hogs.