The Twinning Edge: Hering twins pursue an education for the family business

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | sophia.fahleson@okstate.edu

In the heartland of Oklahoma, Josh and Logan Hering, identical twin brothers, carry on a tradition of innovation within the meat industry.

The brothers spent their childhood helping at Ralph’s Packing Co., a fourth-generation family-owned meat processing business in Perkins, Oklahoma. Their first job was folding boxes, which they turned into a brotherly competition.

“Do you know the commercials of the Domino’s Pizza guy who folds boxes super fast?” Logan Hering said. “We are faster.”

Ralph’s Packing Co. was established in 1959 by the twins’ great-grandfather Ralph Crane.

Six decades later, Ralph’s Packing Co. is one of the country’s most awarded small meat processors, specializing in high-quality smoked and fresh meat products and serving wholesale and retail to customers.

“They are a tight-knit family,” said Jake Nelson, Ralph’s Packing food safety coordinator and executive director of the Oklahoma-Texas Meat Processors Association. “They recognize that Ralph’s is a community icon for Perkins and even Stillwater.”

Josh and Logan Hering work to produce a positive image for the company.

“The two are very humble and hardworking,” Nelson said. “That is a characteristic that’s clear to see. The family-owned business has been a cornerstone of the twins’ upbringing.”

The twins credit their parents and grandparents for instilling the value of work ethic to them at a young age by teaching them the family business.

“We matured early,” Josh Hering said, “and became well-prepared for our future. We were never handed anything on a silver platter."

“Our family made us work for everything,” he added, “and I am extremely grateful they did. It’s made us who we are today.”

The brothers owe their success all to the generations before them, Logan Hering said.

“As fourth-generation agriculturalists, it’s in our blood,” he added.

“We were born into it, and we are proud to be,” Logan Hering said. “We have never known anything different. Many of our friends and family are also deeply rooted within the meat processing industry.”

 At age 9, the pair started exhibiting cattle and swine as members of the Perkins 4-H Club.

“If you have the chance, get your children involved in the agricultural industry,” said Erica Hering, the twins’ mother and CEO of Ralph’s Packing Co. “To me, involvement in agriculture is one of the best gifts you can give your children and your family.

“It’s going to be one of the hardest things you’ve ever done,” she added. “But, it’s going to be one of the best, most rewarding things you can do together as a family.”

By age 11, the brothers had established J&L Farms, were managing their own herd of Red Angus cattle and multiple breeds of swine, and were operating a farm-to-fork operation.

The duo’s livestock are harvested at the OSU Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center and sold at Ralph’s retail store with the J&L Farms label. The whole process takes place within a 10-mile radius.

“Logan and I understood the farm-to-fork process at a very young age and acted on it,” Josh Hering said.

 The brothers made use of J&L Farms as a dual operation for their livestock show projects, which were raised and shown by the pair under J&L Farms.

“It takes the entire family to get a livestock project off the ground if it’s going to be a good project,” Erica Hering said. “To me, your best families and kids who come out of 4-H and FFA programs are the ones where mom and dad are in those barns with them every single day.”

The brothers attended Perkins-Tryon High School where they were actively involved in FFA and had success in their projects. In 2023, they were State FFA Star finalists, and each earned the State FFA Degree.

Now 19, the twins are members of the American Association of Meat Processors, which is North America’s largest meat trade organization. In 2023, they were finalists in the AAMP Youth Ambassador Competition.

As they continue their education at OSU, Josh Hering is earning his bachelor’s degree in food science. Logan Hering chose agribusiness with a concentration in meat science.

Sticking to their generational meat science roots, they are now student workers at FAPC.

“Josh and Logan give it their all at work,” said Brooklyn Wurm, an agribusiness major who also works in FAPC. “They both are very dedicated to FAPC and are a blast to work with. When they first started working at FAPC, I could not tell them apart, but now I know their personalities and it’s become pretty easy.”

Both Herings maintain high GPAs at OSU alongside managing their work commitments outside of the classroom with FAPC, Ralph’s and J&L Farms.

“I was drawn to working at FAPC due to a longstanding fascination with the organization,” Logan Hering said. “My preexisting experience in the field has honestly made it a very natural fit. I love it.”

 Logan and Josh Hering are identical mirror twins, meaning one is right handed and the other is left handed. They use this trait to their advantage when working at FAPC, where efficiency is crucial, Logan Hering said.

“We have found when we are working together on a harvest, the most efficient way to get the job done is one twin works on one side of the carcass while the other twin does the other side” Logan Hering said. “It makes the job go by faster, and it’s our way of working together.”

As well as a place of employment for the brothers, FAPC has helped the brothers further their knowledge on meat science, which is shaping their futures, Josh Hering said.

“FAPC provides so much for the agricultural industry in the state of Oklahoma and even outside of the state,” Erica Hering said. “We’ve sent multiple employees from Ralph’s Packing Co. to FAPC for various kinds of training. There is a very good partnership between Ralph’s Packing and FAPC in addition to Josh and Logan working there.”

The twins have a passion for the meat industry, Josh Hering said, and plan to return to their hometown and family business to follow in the footsteps of the generations before them.

“After graduation, I would like to apply all I’ve learned within my major as well as at FAPC,” Logan Hering said. “I want to ship our products internationally instead of just nationally.”

Logan Hering said he and his brother want to expand Ralph’s Packing Co. to allow future generations to be a part of the business.

“I want Ralph’s to always be a family-owned company,” Josh Hering said. “Everything revolves around our family business.”

Story by: Kati Collins | Cowboy Journal