The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) has elected new officers and members to its board of directors at its annual business meeting – the National Pork Industry Forum – held in San Antonio, Texas, March 5-7. Elected as president of the organization was Dr. Ron Prestage, a pork and turkey producer from Camden, South Carolina.
Prestage is part of the family-owned Prestage Farms, which includes hogs, turkeys, cattle and cropland for hay. He’s primarily responsible for the sows and turkeys on the farms in South Carolina and a swine operation in Mississippi.
Elected as president-elect was John Weber, a pork producer from Dysart, Iowa. In addition to raising hogs for Cargill, he manages with his son Valley Lane Farms Inc., a grain and livestock operation.
Ken Maschhoff, a pork producer from Carlyle, Illinois, was picked as vice president. Maschhoff is chairman of Maschhoff Family Foods and co-owner and chairman of The Maschhoffs, the third-largest pork producer in the United States.
New members elected to the board for three-year terms were Kraig Westerbeek, Warsaw, North Carolina; and Dale Reicks, New Hampton, Iowa. They join current directors Kent Bang, Omaha, Nebraska – who is the allied industry representative – Phil Borgic, Nokomis, Illinois; Jim Compart, Nicollet, Minnesota; Jim Heimerl, Johnstown, Ohio; David Herring, Lillington, North Carolina; Bill Kessler, Mexico, Missouri; AV Roth, Wauzeka, Wisconsin; and Terry Wolters, Pipestone, Minnesota. Heimerl and Kessler were re-elected to the board for another three-year term.
Also elected to the board for a two-year term as the Packer Processor Industry Council representative was Cory Bollum, with Hormel Foods Corp. in Austin, Minnesota.
Scott Hayes, of Monroe City, Missouri; and Brandon Schafer, of Goodhue, Minnesota, were elected for two-year terms to NPPC’s Nominating Committee.
“In Ron, John and Ken, we have some great leadership at the helm of NPPC, and the pork industry has some thoughtful innovators,” said NPPC CEO Neil Dierks. “And the addition of Kraig and Dale to the NPPC board gives us some good young leaders who will help take the industry into the future.”
