Equipping the Team for Optimizing Performance | Jon Hoek
Jon Hoek grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago, IL, and was inspired to Agriculture by his Grandpa. He graduated with a degree in Agricultural Production Management in 1986. From 1987 to 1997 he owned and operated a 550-sow farrow to finish swine operation. Jon finished a 20-year career with Belstra Milling in 2017 to start a technology company focusing on precision livestock farming and human capital. Jon has presented both internationally and domestically on the topic of pig production, systems management, and barn culture. Jon and his wife Laureen have four children and two grandchildren and reside in Wheatfield, IN.
The Modern Family Farm | Dave DeVries
Dave DeVries is a third-generation farmer from Drayton, Ontario, Canada. With his wife Lauren, they operate Zeldenrust Farms Ltd., a farrow to finish hog farm, producing hogs for the Raised Without Antibiotics market. Dave and Lauren have been blessed with four boys ages 6 years, 4 years, and 8-month-old twins. It has been a joy to watch the boys take a keen interest in agriculture from a young age.
Dave is actively involved within his local Reformed Church, as well as his community’s food bank and serves as a Delegate for his County’s Pork Producers Association.
The Lingering Effects of the Covid Pandemic | Drew Mogler
Drew Mogler is the public policy director of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, a position he has held since 2018. He previously served as IPPA’s producer outreach director and producer education director.
As the public policy director, Drew administers state legislative programs and environmental regulatory activity, as well as supporting national legislative efforts. He works with producer committees and the IPPA board of directors to formulate policy and plan actions to put an adopted policy in place.
The Journey of Modernizing Swine Operations | Rebecca Barton
What can you learn from this episode of Popular Pig?
• How Rebecca Barton got involved with the pork industry
• Her role in the business
• How her operations have changed
• What it was like to go from outdoor gestation to full indoor production
• The greatest benefits that have come from this transition
• The greatest attributes of a good leader and a great team
• Rebecca Barton’s ‘Golden Nugget”
The Use of Cooling Pads to Reduce Heat Stress in Sows and Boars | Dr. Allan Schinkel
What can you learn from this episode of Popular Pig?
Dr. Allan Schinkel’s background and how he got involved with the swine industry
Dr. Schinkel’s research around heat stress and sow cooling
What inspired his research of heat stress
The challenges faced along the way
The results of his research
It’s potential impact on the swine industry
Dr. Schinkel’s Gold Nugget
Leveraging Technology to Create the Future You Want | Tork & Sawyer Whisler
Tork Whisler is a 5th generation farmer from Washington, IA. He and his wife Tricia have two adult sons, Clay and Sawyer. In addition to their contract finishing and grain operation, Tork spent 15 years in the swine construction business with Precision Structures Inc. both as a service technician and then a salesman. He left PSI in 2015 to assume a management roll with Eichelberger Farms. Just recently Tork has returned to the farm full time with his son Sawyer.
Sawyer Whisler is a 20-year-old 6th generation Farmer from Southeast Iowa. Who farms aside his dad Tork. Together they take care of the family’s acres and contract finish roughly 15,000 pigs a year for Eichelberger Farms. Tork and Sawyer do all of this while building an online brand around their family farm. Sawyer is the brains behind the content creation. With hopes to create his own online business one day.
EPI Air Technology and Its Impact on the Air Quality of the Pork Industry | Victor Munsen
Victor Munsen has a degree in Biology from Johns Hopkins University, and an MBA in Operations and Technology Management from The University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has been a consultant to technology start-ups and established pharmaceutical companies. His expertise is in the validation of computer and technology systems for pharmaceutical companies trying to achieve FDA approval. In 2019 Victor joined EPI Air as the Chief Operations Officer with the intent of growing the company’s product line, customer base, and vision. In his spare time, Victor is an avid SCUBA diver, caver, and aspiring cave diver.
The Role of Joy and Strengths in Company Culture | Tomer Yogev
Tomer Yogev is an executive coach to leading entrepreneurs and innovators, a professor of Entrepreneurship, a sought-after board member & advisor, retired serial entrepreneur, and a self-described “business bohemian.” He is best known as one of the premier coaches in the country for entrepreneurs at The Big Joy Theory where he co-created the leading model for leadership development through joy. In all that he does, Tomer brings vast experience and a unique “Joy Forward” approach to help ensure real success – yes, in business, but, more importantly, in life and in far deeper and more important ways.
The Dawn of Acuity Genetics | Dr. Clint Schwab
Clint Schwab serves as President of Acuity, with overall fiscal and operational accountability for the business. Clint received his bachelor’s degree in animal science from Colorado State University before completing his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in animal breeding and genetics from Iowa State University, as well as an MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Clint joined The Maschhoffs in 2012 following his time as CEO of the National Swine Registry.
Discovering Profitability In Various Forms Of Pork Production | Kelly Worthington & Christina Stender
Whispering Wind Farms was the first breeder in Alberta with the sole concentration on pasture pork genetics. In 2015, Kelly Worthington and Jon Lendvoy of Whispering Wind Farms began raising the Kunekune breed which could graze and finish as efficient on forage as their 40 cow-calf pairs and grass-fed beef operation. In 2018, they grew their herd large enough to offer fresh Kunekune Pasture Pork and become the first Kunekune Pork Supplier in Alberta. Their current operation includes 20 breeding sows and a pasture pork farrowing to finish operation of over 175 head with a strong emphasis on natural hands-off maternal instincts, herd health, and breed standard. Kelly Worthington serves on the Board of Directors for the American Kunekune Pig Registry, the original registry of the Kunekune breed.
Boss Hog: How Leadership and Collaboration Drive Innovation | Wendell H. Murphy
Wendell Holmes Murphy was born September 23, 1938, to Holmes & Lois King Murphy of Rose Hill, North Carolina, and is the brother of Harry Daniel (Pete) Murphy and the late Joyce Murphy Minchew. Wendell was raised in Duplin County on a farm in the Registers Crossroads area. He graduated from Rose Hill High School in 1957, received his Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural education from North Carolina State University in 1960 and taught vocational agriculture for five years in Green and Duplin counties. Wendell is married to Linda Godwin Murphy from Spivey’s Corner in Sampson County. They have four children; Wendell Holmes (Dell) Murphy, Jr, Wendy Murphy Crumpler, Cindy Hairr Bass, and Wesley Hairr. They have seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
COVID – Revealing Who We Are And Where We Want To Be | Dr. Chase Stahl & Mike Wubbena
Chase grew up on a farm near Clarion, IA. He graduated from Clarion-Goldfield High School in 2004 and completed his undergraduate studies at Drake University in 2008 with dual degrees in Biochemistry and Environmental Science. While in the initial years of veterinary school, Chase was employed at the Iowa State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and later served as a summer intern at the Fairmont Veterinary Clinic in 2010. Shortly after graduating from the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2012, Chase spent a year working as a Staff Veterinarian with Iowa Select Farms.