Popular Pig

Jim Eadie is the founder of Swineweb.com and is pioneering in the modern technology of how Pork Producers access information timely and concisely starting in 2005. After growing the brand and business, the group expanded with a Marketing Consulting Service (www.agricultureadvertising.com) and spin-off sites for Dairy (www.dairyproducer.com), Poultry (www.poultryproducer.com), Crops (www.cropproducer.com), and Beef (www.beefproducer.ca). Passionate about storytelling, brand building, and leveraging technology to break the news instantly, the websites, email lists, and social media have continued to accelerate how people use digital technologies in our industry as a management platform. He is married to his wife Tanya and is the father of two girls, Ayva 10 and Berkley 2.

Josh Rennells has been with Clemens Food Group for 15 years during which time he led various aspects of the business including Sales and Marketing, Operations, Supply Chain, Hog Procurement, and currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer.  The constant during the multiple roles at Clemens is focusing on adding value to their customers.  During his 15 years at Clemens, Josh has seen Clemens Food Groups Revenues triple as their unique model resonated with their key stakeholders.

Prior to Clemens, Josh had worked for Colgate Palmolive, Tyson Foods, and Farmland Foods.  Josh received a Business and Accounting undergraduate degree from William Jewell College and received his MBA from Rockhurst University.

Cesar A Corzo is an Associate Professor and the Leman Chair in Swine Health and Productivity at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Cesar was born and raised in Colombia where he was involved in beef cattle production from a young age but fell in love with pig production and health. He obtained his DVM degree from the College of Veterinary Medicine at the Universidad de La Salle in his hometown of Bogota, Colombia.

Upon completing his DVM training, he moved to Canada (University of Guelph) where he obtained a Master of Science degree. He then moved back to his home country and joined the Elanco Swine Technical Consultant team for almost 4 years before joining the University of Minnesota where he obtained his PhD degree in Veterinary Medicine working with Drs. Bob Morrison and Marie Culhane. Cesar joined PIC in 2012 where he led the Health Team in both the health services and assurance areas for Latin America. In 2017, he joined the University of Minnesota where he currently leads the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project and conducts applied research in PRRSV, PEDv, PDCoV and SVV.

Dr. DeDecker grew up on a third-generation family pig and grain farm in West Central
Illinois. She received her B.S. from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in Animal
Science in 2006. She then pursued her Ph.D. in swine well-being at the University of
Illinois.

After receiving her Ph.D. in 2011, Dr. DeDecker began her career as the Assistant Director of Production Research in the Science & Technology Department at Smithfield Foods.

Currently a Director of Production Research for Smithfield, Dr. DeDecker conducts
applied research in all disciplines of swine production including feed manufacturing,
nutrition, well-being, reproduction, management, performance and productivity, animal health, and meat quality. Dr. DeDecker manages research teams across the United States, focused on collecting high quality, objective data to make better business decisions for Smithfield.

Ashley works in Warsaw, North Carolina and has been with Smithfield for 10 years.

Dr. Tom Stein is Senior Strategic Adviser for Maximus Systems/Maximum Ag Technologies, working on next-generation pig and poultry production management software. He is the creator of the PigCHAMP software and co-founder of MetaFarms. National Hog Farmer magazine named him one of the top 50 men and women who truly made a difference in the US pork industry over the last 100 years. In 2011, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians presented Dr. Stein with the Howard Dunne Award for outstanding contributions to swine production and health. In 2019, Dr. Stein received the George Foxcroft award from the Banff Pork Conference for rigorous and high-profile research which contributes to improvements in pork production efficiency. 

Dr. Seth Krantz graduated from vet school at the University of Tennessee in 2010. Since then he has spent 2 years at a swine consulting practice and 9 years at Tosh Pork.  Today Dr. Krantz oversees animal health, well being, and research at Tosh. He is married to his wife Sandra and is the father of 6 year old twins named Oliver and Iris.

Dr. Tyler Holck has extensive leadership and project management experience dedicated to food animal production, primarily the pork industry, with both large international and small entrepreneurial corporations. Some of which include Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis Animal Health, NOBL Laboratories, and Iowa State University.

Dr. Larry Rueff grew up on a small grain and hog farm in Franklin, Indiana. He enrolled at Purdue University in 1972 and graduated with a B.S. in Animal Science in 1976 and a D.V.M. from Purdue University in 1979. In 2001 he received Purdue University’s “Distinguished Agriculture Alumni Award”. In 2005, the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine awarded him their “College of Veterinary Medicine Distinguished Alumni Award”.

From 1979 to 1984 Dr. Larry Rueffs was an associate of a mixed practice in Greensburg, Indiana with his primary interest in swine.

In 1984 he founded Swine Veterinary Services only working with swine production. The emphasis of the practice was on establishing preventative herd health programs and interpreting production and economic records for commercial swine farms. Dr. Rueff retired from private practice in 2019 after 40 years of private practice. He is continuing consultation with the swine industry in various capacities. Dr. Rueff continues to operate a swine research facility on his farm in Greensburg.

Dr. Rueff and his wife Gail have been married for 44 years and they have two
daughters. Laura is a private practice Physician (Interventional Radiologist) and Erin is
an Optometrist working as a Professor specializing in contact lens. They have 2
Grandsons.

Dr. Rueff is a past president of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. In
2002 he received that organizations award for “Swine Practitioner of the Year”. In 2008
the swine industry periodical National Hog Farmer named him a “Master of the Swine
Industry”.

From 1992 until 2018, he was a director of MainSource Financial Group (MSFG) which
was a NASDAQ traded regional banking company. In this time the bank grew from $250 million in assets to 4.7 billion in assets with a capitalization of $1 billion. The bank was sold in the spring of 2018 to First Financial Bancorp (FFBC) of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Dr. Rueff’s clientele has been predominantly Indiana and Midwestern swine farms, but
he continues to do international consulting. He has done work in Europe, South
America, Canada and Asia. In the past 23 years, he has made 25 trips to in the Peoples Republic of China with other stops in Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

He is currently serving as Chairman of the Board of Decatur County Memorial Hospital.

Barrett Eller, of New Fashion Pork, is a Human Resources Manager that leads Performance & Talent Management and Organizational Development throughout their operations which is based out of Jackson, Minnesota.

Barrett’s previous experiences with both large publicly traded and privately owned small to middle-sized organizations have led him to his role today at New Fashion Pork and their pursuit of excellence while rewriting how strategic human resources and other supporting operations can have a competitive edge instead of following the “herd”.

Barrett’s academic and career development includes a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), and graduating Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s in HR Management. He has served on Performance Management, Safety Systems, and Talent Development task force teams as well as the Workplace Safety Committee for the National Pork Board and been a guest speaker at the National Pork Industry Conference.  

Vance Crowe is a communications strategist that has worked for corporations and international organizations around the world. He has spoken before more than 150,000 people, answering questions about some of the most sophisticated and controversial technologies in the modern age.  Vance helps organizations realize why the general public doesn’t agree with their perspective and offers new ways to communicate effectively, resolve disagreements, and build rapport with critics and stakeholders.           

Vance is the former Director of Millennial Engagement for Monsanto. He previously worked as a Communications Strategist for the World Bank Group, as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer stationed in Kenya, as a Communications Coordinator at a National Public Radio affiliate in Northern California, and as a deckhand on an eco-tourism ship that traveled the Western Hemisphere.  His stories and lessons illuminate aspects of communications that remain hidden to most people.

Vance holds a degree in communications from Marquette University and a master’s degree in cross-cultural negotiations from the Seton Hall School of Diplomacy. 

Vance host a podcast aptly called “The Vance Crowe Podcast”