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About the Guests
Lee Schulz joined Ever.Ag as their chief economist in 2024. In this role, he speaks on various industry topics, develops and delivers economic data and analyses, and provides clients with critical economic perspectives for informed decision-making. He also serves as the consulting economist for the National Pork Board.
Lee grew up on a crop and livestock farm in central Wisconsin. From 2012 to 2024 he was on the economics faculty at Iowa State University where he served as a professor and as the statewide extension specialist on livestock economics and markets.
Lee has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, a master’s in agricultural economics from Michigan State University, and a Ph.D. in economics from Kansas State University.
Kiersten Hafer, vice president of business intelligence and innovation for the National Pork Board, provides strategy, insights and guidance to the pork industry and supply chain on where to play and how to win with pork.
She has leveraged her 30 years of experience with Fortune 500 companies and high-growth organizations to uncover and unlock potential, facilitate change and measure expansion. As a lifelong connector and change agent, she has strategized business growth with retailers, marketing agencies, food brokers, foodservice operators, market research firms and consumer goods manufacturers.
Before her role with the National Pork Board, she served as vice president of marketing for Clemens Food Group, where she was responsible for marketing, innovation and business insights across its retail and foodservice businesses.
Hafer is a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University with a Master of Science degree in Food Marketing from the Haub School of Business. She resides in the Greater Philadelphia region with her husband, two children and two golden retrievers.
Jesse Heimer owns Heimer Hampshires, a 500-sow show pig enterprise, where he leads a team of eight raising competitive pigs for junior livestock enthusiasts nationwide and sells progressive genetics via semen and breeding stock to other breeders.
Heimer is a founding member and past board member of the Missouri Youth Show Pig Circuit (2009-2023) and a current Missouri Pork Association board member. At the national level, he is a Pork Leadership Institute graduate (2021); hosted dialogue with industry leaders to foster harmony between show pigs and commercial sectors; sits on the NPPC Traceability task force; participates in the AgView working group and represents exhibition swine on the General Conference Committee of the U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan.
What can you expect to learn from this episode of Popular Pig?
- Why growing pork demand starts with understanding the consumer not just the product
- How data is being used to target the right people with the right message at the right time
- Why demand growth is a long game and what realistic expectations should look like
- How marketing efforts actually connect back to producer profitability and value