The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) named John Weber its new president and elected new officers and members to its board of directors at its annual business meeting – the National Pork Industry Forum – held March 5 in Indianapolis.
Weber, a pork producer from Dysart, Iowa, spent the past year as the NPPC president-elect. In addition to raising hogs that are processed by JBS, he manages with his son Valley Lane Farms Inc., a grain and livestock operation. Weber has served on several NPPC committees, including the Strategic Investment Program Marketing Committee, the Environmental Policy Committee and the Farm Bill Policy Task Force. Weber also serves on the Iowa Pork Producers Association board of directors as well as on its Public Policy Committee. He’s a member of the board of directors of Iowa Pork Promotions Inc. and is active in his local farm bureau. Weber holds a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Iowa State University.
Ken Maschhoff, a pork producer from Carlyle, Illinois, was elevated to president-elect. Maschhoff is chairman of Maschhoff Family Foods and co-owner and chairman of The Maschhoffs, the third-largest pork producer in the United States. A fifth-generation pork producer, Maschhoff serves as a member of the board of directors of Midland States Bank and Midland States Bancorp Inc. and has served on numerous state and national boards on behalf of the pork industry.
Board member Jim Heimerl, of Johnstown, Ohio, was chosen as vice president. Heimerl and his wife Kathy, along with three sons and a daughter-in-law, run three farrow-to-finish farms in Ohio and 80 contract finishing farms in several states. Heimerl Farms LTD also consists of crops and cattle, as well as a trucking division and feed mill. Heimerl is president of the Ohio Pork Producers Council and a board member of the Ohio Soybean Association.
Re-elected to the board for another three-year term were Jim Compart, of Nicollet, Minnesota, Maschhoff and AV Roth, of Wauzeka, Wisconsin. Board member Kent Bang was re-elected to a two-year term for the Allied Industry Council seat. Jen Sorensen, of Ankeny, Iowa, with Iowa Select Farms, was elected as a new member of the board for a three-year term.
They join current directors Cory Bollum, with Hormel Foods Corp. in Austin, Minnesota – who is the Packer Processor Industry Council representative – Phil Borgic, Nokomis, Illinois; David Herring, Lillington, North Carolina; Bill Kessler, Mexico, Missouri; Dale Reicks, New Hampton, Iowa, Kraig Westerbeek, of Warsaw, North Carolina; and Terry Wolters, Pipestone, Minnesota.
Re-elected to the NPPC Nominating Committee, which vets candidates for the board, was Duane Stateler, a producer from Ohio. Joe Baldwin, a producer from Indiana, also was elected to the committee.
“In John, Ken, and Jim we have great leadership at the helm of NPPC, and the pork industry has some thoughtful leaders and innovators,” said NPPC CEO Neil Dierks. “And the addition of Jen to the NPPC board gives us a good young leader who will help take the industry into the future.”
