Eric Stonestreet on Why He Proposed to Fiancée Lindsay Schweitzer After 5 Years: 'It Was Time'

Eric Stonestreet knows he has found "the one" in his fiancée Lindsay Schweitzer.

The Modern Family alum, 50, proposed to Schweitzer, 41, in August after more than five years of dating — and now Stonestreet tells PEOPLE what finally made him get down on one knee.

"We've been together for a long time and I just knew I wasn't going to find a better partner in life than Lindsay," Stonestreet says while speaking about the National Pork Board's pig farming myth-busting campaign. "So it just made the most sense. And I'd taken my sweet old time."

"Everybody else — let me put it this way — that knows Lindsay was like, 'What are you waiting for?' So, it was time," he adds.

And while the proposal was certainly a "special moment" for the couple, Stonestreet said he didn't put in hours planning ahead of time.

"Impromptu just made it a special moment for her and I," he says, noting it was "not a big production."

PEOPLE broke the news of Stonestreet and Schweitzer's relationship in 2017. The pair met a year before at the Big Slick charity weekend in Stonestreet's native Kansas City, Kansas.

One thing the couple has in common is their background and appreciation for pig farming.

"Her dad actually was in the pig business too, so she's been around the pig industry a lot," says Stonestreet. "But she knew full-on getting into being with me that she was dealing with an old pig farmer."

Stonestreet and Schweitzer — who also has farmers in her family — are "kind of cut from the same cloth," the Emmy-winner says.

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"[We] want to make sure that people understand that farmers are good, hardworking people that put out the best product they possibly can," he adds.

Because of that, Stonestreet has teamed up with the National Pork Board for National Pork Month this October. He hopes to clear up misconceptions about pig farming.

"I thought it was a great opportunity to do a full-circle moment, where I'm able to use my name and face to help shine some positive light on the pork producers of America," he told PEOPLE. "So that's where the relationship started, and what the goal is — busting some myths and just really educating people and hopefully inspiring them to have ... an understanding of where their food comes from. I think people would be surprised so much about so many different things about a modern pig farm."

In fact, Stonestreet said there are "little idioms that we all grew up saying in our vernacular" in need of correction, including "sweating like a pig" and "pigsty."

"Pigs naturally are very clean animals," he said. "And then when you add in the consciousness and care that farmers put into raising pigs on a moderate pig farm, they're a very clean animal. They're raised in temperature-controlled barns with nutrition being paid attention to at the highest degree making sure that the pigs eating well-balanced meals daily."

For more information on National Pork Board's pig farming myth-busting campaign, go to Pork.org/RuralDictionary.