Dr. Lowe is an educator, advisor, researcher, and farmer based in Illinois. He is also a professor and the associate dean for online programs and extension at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois. He holds a DVM and MS from the University of Illinois and has spent most of the last 30 years working in and with red meat production systems in the US and internationally. He lives in Illinois with his wife, Erin, and their dog, Hank.

Dr. David Newman is the Senior Vice President of Market Growth at the National Pork Board. A third-generation pork producer and meat scientist, Dr. Newman leads efforts to understand consumer behavior and drive demand for pork. He focuses on innovative marketing strategies to position pork as a preferred protein.

Rob Brenneman and his wife Char own and operate Brenneman Pork, a fully integrated family farm in Washington, Iowa. Rob has grown their operation substantially while still dedicating time to advocating for the U.S. pork industry as a whole. Rob and Char have four children, who along with their spouses are all involved in the operation. Rob enjoys spending time with their 12 grandchildren.

Rob’s interest in livestock began with hogs as a 4-H project. He and his dad raised pigs at their home just outside of Keota, Iowa. While in high school Rob kept busy with 4-H and FFA. Rob received his American Farmer Degree in 1979. In 1980 Rob and Char married and started their own farm near Kalona, Iowa. In 1983 they built their first inside modern sow housing. Rob also took a job off the farm at UPS. In 1988 Brenneman Pork started to expand to what it is today. Rob received the Master Pork Producer Award in 1991. In 1994 Rob and Char received the Pork All American Award. They remain active with the Washington County Pork Producers.

In addition to serving as President Elect of the National Pork Producers Council, he also serves as the President of the Bear Creek Genetics Board of Directors.

Today Brenneman Pork owns and operates approximately 50,000 sows, markets roughly 1.5 million pigs per year and has its own feed mill and crop enterprise consisting of 3,900 acres of corn and soybeans. In addition to his roles on the farm, Rob is referred to as a visionary, strategic planner, coach, and mentor. Rob is passionate about and enjoys engaging youth and the local community in agriculture.

Joe Kerns brings over 30 years of experience supporting agricultural operations across the livestock and grain industries. He has worked with producers, suppliers, and mills on procurement and risk management strategies including hedging, ingredient purchasing, feed quality, diet formulation, operational benchmarking, and livestock marketing.

Matthew Gross is a Hutterite. Hutterites are very open-minded, but still cherish their community values. Matthew is a generational pig farmer, with an open mind towards technology and productivity.

At their farm they are currently using PigFlow as a means to run a more efficient operation. Hutterite’s have always embraced technology as a means to run their farmers as efficiently as possible. And pig farming has always been a big part of their culture, and a means of financially sustainability.

Duane Stateler is a fourth-generation pork producer and as the owner/operator of Stateler Family Farms, along with his son, Anthony, oversees all aspects of production and operations. The enterprise features a wean/feeder to finish pork business marketing 15,600 head annually. They also have 900 acres of crop production, raising corn, soybeans, and wheat.

Duane currently serves on the National Pork Producers Council Board of Directors as President and represents producers on various national committees.

Duane is a member of the Ohio Pork Council Board, and is active in numerous Ohio Pork Council Committees, as well as the Ohio Farm Bureau, Hancock Country Farm Bureau, Ohio Livestock Coalition, McComb Farmers Co-op, Blanchard Valley Farmers Co-op, Ohio Soybean Association and Ohio Corn and Wheat Association.

Duane has served his local community as a volunteer for the McComb Fire Department, McComb School Board, State Fire Investigators office and State Arson Taskforce. Duane and his wife, Margie, reside on the family farm in McComb, Ohio.

Jennifer Patterson obtained her MSc in Animal Science from the University of Alberta where she is currently a Research Associate and the Swine Industry Liaison for Livestock Gentec. This involves developing research projects that address current industry challenges and providing continued support to producers to implement results at the farm level, putting “science into practice”. Jennifer has worked with many pig industry groups around the world and her current focus is on gilt management to improve sow lifetime productivity and retention. She also loves working with farm production data, through which powerful insights can be developed to make data-driven decisions that positively affect overall herd performance.

Lori is from St. Louis, Missouri and for as long as she can remember, she aspired to be a veterinarian. After her undergrad degree, she worked in a large commercial sow farm in central Missouri where her dreams changed and she fell in love with pigs. Lori went to grad school at Kansas State University and completed her Masters and PhD in swine nutrition where the majority of her research focused around nutrient requirements in gestating sows. Following the completion of her degrees, Lori work for Gestal as a Nutrition and Production Specialist, before coming to PIC in 2020 where she currently serves as a Technical Services Manager.

Patrick Fleming, vice president of demand development for National Pork Board, guides his twelve-member team on priorities related to consumer demand, multicultural marketing, foodservice and retail support, packer/processor collaboration and human nutrition strategies.

With decades of experience in sales and marketing, he creates uniquely valuable marketing programs by leveraging business-to-business and business-to-consumer activation’s. He is currently a leader in the pork industry’s consumer-facing, digital-forward brand campaign development designed to unapologetically be more relevant and relatable to Millennial and Gen Z Americans.

Fleming resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife, Karen, and two children, Sean and Kelly.

Jennifer Tirey, executive director of Illinois Pork Producers Association (IPPA), and her team represent more than 1,000 pork producers across the state by judiciously spending Checkoff dollars to enhance profitability and preference for pork, education, and research opportunities in urban and rural areas.

Illinois’ non-checkoff programs focus on state and national legislative issues. IPPA serves as a grassroots voice for pork producers to proactively represent their freedom to operate and to protect the legacy of multi-generational farm families.

Throughout her 10 years as the IPPA executive director, Tirey has served on a variety of national committees focused on marketing/promotion, policy, and member relations. Tirey enjoys running, teaching yoga and spending time with her husband, Kevin, and their two children, Flynn and Katharine.

Kristen Cumming’s career is focused on improving the connection between people and their work. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a Master of Education degree in Workplace and Adult Learning. Kristen spent 11 years instructing in the Donald School of Business at Red Deer College and the Bachelor of Management Business Economics program at the University of Alberta – Augustana Campus and spent the past 20 years operating a successful consulting practice through which she serves as a consultant, speaker and trainer focused on leadership and execution. She is a proud product of an Albertan farm family.

Kurt was born and raised on a pig farm near Barrhead, Alberta, which sparked his passion for swine production and medicine. He graduated with his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in 2010 from WCVM in Saskatoon. After graduation, he went directly into swine medicine and has worked in swine practices in Manitoba and Alberta. In 2019, Kurt started a new swine veterinary practice, Precision Veterinary Services inc., based in Red Deer, Alberta. He and his wife Tanja have their home near Lacombe with their 4 children.