Sioux County farmer Chris Ten Napel admits he hasn’t gotten much sleep lately, maybe four or five hours tops, trying to squeeze in time to harvest crops, care for nursery pigs and haul hogs.

Ten Napel, 33, started a trucking business in 2009 on the advice of his dad, Robert, who custom-feeds hogs and couldn’t find a reliable trucker to transport pigs. Now Ten Napel said he moves about 10,000 to 15,000 pigs per week and can’t keep up with demand for his service.

"Nobody really wants to haul hogs, because it’s a lot of hard work. But I don’t mind it," said Ten Napel, who woke up at 4 a.m. that day to move another load of pigs.

"I didn’t plan on trucking, but when the opportunity came, you just go with it and be willing to change and adapt as things go," he said. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But you don’t know unless you try."

Ten Napel and his wife,...