Dwight Mogler is the managing partner of Iowa Craft Meats and a partner in Mogler Farms/Dayspring Farm in Lyon County, Iowa. A graduate of Iowa State University with a degree in agricultural business, Dwight returned to the family operation after working in the feed and grain industry and helped grow the farm’s farrow-to-finish operation to 200,000 head of annual marketing’s.

Today, the family enterprise includes pork production, beef feedlot operations, crop farming, a country grain elevator and Iowa Craft Meats, a business focused on creating value-added pork products and connecting consumers more closely to the people who raise their food. Dwight is passionate about the future of pork demand, product innovation, and helping producers build stronger connections with consumers.

Dwight previously served on the National Pork Producers Council board and is currently a producer board member of the National Pork Board.  He has been recognized by the Iowa Pork Producers Association for his contributions to the pork industry. He and his wife, Donna, live in Lester, Iowa, and enjoy spending time with family when not working.

Lee Schulz joined Ever.Ag as their chief economist in 2024. In this role, he speaks on various industry topics, develops and delivers economic data and analyses, and provides clients with critical economic perspectives for informed decision-making. He also serves as the consulting economist for the National Pork Board.

Lee grew up on a crop and livestock farm in central Wisconsin. From 2012 to 2024 he was on the economics faculty at Iowa State University where he served as a professor and as the statewide extension specialist on livestock economics and markets.

Lee has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, a master’s in agricultural economics from Michigan State University, and a Ph.D. in economics from Kansas State University.

Kiersten Hafer, vice president of business intelligence and innovation for the National Pork Board, provides strategy, insights and guidance to the pork industry and supply chain on where to play and how to win with pork.

She has leveraged her 30 years of experience with Fortune 500 companies and high-growth organizations to uncover and unlock potential, facilitate change and measure expansion. As a lifelong connector and change agent, she has strategized business growth with retailers, marketing agencies, food brokers, foodservice operators, market research firms and consumer goods manufacturers.

Before her role with the National Pork Board, she served as vice president of marketing for Clemens Food Group, where she was responsible for marketing, innovation and business insights across its retail and foodservice businesses.

Hafer is a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University with a Master of Science degree in Food Marketing from the Haub School of Business. She resides in the Greater Philadelphia region with her husband, two children and two golden retrievers.

Jesse Heimer owns Heimer Hampshires, a 500-sow show pig enterprise, where he leads a team of eight raising competitive pigs for junior livestock enthusiasts nationwide and sells progressive genetics via semen and breeding stock to other breeders.

Heimer is a founding member and past board member of the Missouri Youth Show Pig Circuit (2009-2023) and a current Missouri Pork Association board member. At the national level, he is a Pork Leadership Institute graduate (2021); hosted dialogue with industry leaders to foster harmony between show pigs and commercial sectors; sits on the NPPC Traceability task force; participates in the AgView working group and represents exhibition swine on the General Conference Committee of the U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan.

Sarah Showalter is the director of consumer and business insights for the National Pork Board. She implements consumer-focused, producer-led strategy by leading qualitative and quantitative research to answer business questions and identify opportunities.

Prior to her role at NPB, Showalter attended Iowa State University and has experience in developing strategic insights through research at Circana (formerly IRI), Conagra Brands and Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Will Brunt is the chief innovation and marketing officer for Villari Food Group, based out of

Will has spent more than half of his 32-year marketing and advertising career with animal protein, emphasizing pork, specifically Boar’s Head, Smithfield Foods and Villari Food Group, while also building cross-functional teams and creating a growth-oriented culture of accountability and partnership. Other brands throughout his career include Sara Lee, Tabasco, Rolling Rock, Ventura Foods and International Delight.

Lastly, Will was active in the National Pork Board’s two-year marketing advisory group, which served as a crucial feedback loop for the development of the Taste What Pork Can Do® consumer brand campaign, launched in May 2025.

SwineTech is an agtech company transforming pork production through its PigFlow platform, an AI-powered operating system designed to coordinate people, protocols, and priorities at the point of care. Rather than focusing solely on data collection and reporting, PigFlow drives real-time execution by embedding standard operating procedures directly into daily workflows, ensuring consistency, compliance, and performance across every stage of production.

At the center of the platform is Charlotte, SwineTech’s AI-powered digital assistant, which enables users to interact with operational data and institutional knowledge through natural language. By making information more accessible and actionable, Charlotte helps teams make faster, better decisions while reducing administrative burden. Together, PigFlow and Charlotte represent a shift toward execution-driven technology in agriculture, connecting data, people, and processes to improve outcomes across modern production systems.

Dr. Ramirez is a scientific advisor for Clipper Distributing Company, LLC. Dr. Ramirez developed the first accelerated peroxide (AHP®) formulations which asides from Intervention disinfectant, also include hospital and dental disinfectants, a reuse medical sterilant, an antimicrobial hand wash, and a dairy teat dip. He holds more than 20 issued or pending patents ranging from cleaning & disinfection, to water treatment and chemical process sensors & controls. His first patent was filed in 1999 – the first AHP® formulation.

Dr. Ramirez has more than 25 years of experience in disinfectant formulation development as applied to infection prevention and biosecurity in a variety of markets. He has started two companies based on his inventions and has won several business pitch competitions, including technologies for wastewater processing and wastewater control. He has been featured and interviewed several times in the press.

Dr. Ramirez holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and MS and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

José Santiago is a sow production supervisor leading teams with Tosh Pork, LLC based in Henry, Tennessee.  José has had extensive experience throughout many segments of the pork industry which has positioned him to excel in production management and José’s teams routinely lead the industry in sow productivity, pig quality, and pig care.

Although José’s strengths in pig production are evident, his true passions are rooted in the people who care for those pigs.  José believes in the value that all members of a team can contribute and encourage and develop his people to be as successful as possible. On his free time José is the Youth director for Holy Cross Catholic Church as well as the baseball coach for the Henry County Middle School team.  José currently resides in Paris, Tennessee with his lovely wife, Jaryssel and their two outstanding children, José (20 years old) and Angelica (18 years old).

Joseph Galasso Jr. is a seasoned C-suite executive with over 40 years in food protein sales, operations, business development, and biosecurity technologies tailored for livestock and swine operations. As Chief Operating Officer at WT Associates and WT BIO-TECH, he leads commercialization of mortality management systems—including EPA-compliant incinerators, anaerobic digestion like KLEENPAS BioGestor, and aqueous ozone/nanobubble solutions—for large-scale beef and pork processing facilities in Iowa. His expertise spans pioneering green chemistry biosecurity for clients like Walt Disney and Wynn Resorts, full P&L management of 12M+ lb protein lines, and regulatory navigation (USDA FSIS, EPA, DNR), making him a key contributor to the protein industry.

Kit Thomas Laramore was born in 1953 in Gillette, Wyoming, and grew up attending school first at a family ranch and later in Gillette. He pursued higher education initially in vocal performance and then in Agricultural Business, graduating from the University of Wyoming in 1978. After college, he worked in trades and construction before focusing on ranching and cattle operations, eventually moving into the beef meat business. Laramore attended a one-room schoolhouse taught by his mother, completed his primary and secondary education in Gillette, and studied vocal performance and agricultural business at universities in Utah and Wyoming. During college, he worked as an electrician earning substantial wages and post-graduation chose to build houses during a coal mining boom, becoming a general contractor for over 130 structures in six years.

Daniel Linhares, DVM, MBA, PhD –  Professor & Director of Graduate Education at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Worked for 8 years as a practicing veterinarian, technical services, and health assurance; now he is dedicated to training MSc and PhD students as part of the ISU fieldepi team, working with swine producers and health professionals in the US and abroad.

Edison Magalhães, DVM, MBA, MSc, PhD  – Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. Dr. Edison Magalhaes previously worked for four years in the Brazilian swine industry as a swine veterinarian practitioner. He then pursued his Master’s and PhD in Swine Epidemiology at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Currently, Dr. Magalhaes leads the SwinalytIQ Lab, a multidisciplinary team composed of undergraduate and graduate students from veterinary medicine, animal science, data science, and computer engineering. His program focuses on research and extension that supports the U.S. and global swine industries by developing data-driven approaches to improve health, productivity, and decision-making, helping producers better utilize their production data.

Dr. Bill Christianson is the former Chief Operating Officer of PIC. He has a background in agriculture and biotechnology, with broad industry knowledge and extensive commercial and global experience. He earned his DVM and PhD in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Christianson joined PIC in 1993 and held a range of operational roles across Europe, South America, and the United States before becoming General Manager of PIC North America in 2007. He later led the combined ABS and PIC businesses across the Americas starting in 2010 and became COO of Genus PIC in 2012.

Edwina and her husband run Blantyre Farms, a 2,200 sow pig farm and a mixed farm of sheep, cattle and crops, near Young, NSW, Australia.

In operation for more than a decade, a methane digestion system captures methane gas from pig manure and converts it into electricity. Blantyre also utilizes food waste products for pig feed and saves 13,500 of tonnes of landfill each year. The NSW EPA has awarded Blantyre with a Green Globe Award for Resource Efficiency.