National Pork Producers Council elects new officer and members

The National Pork Producers Council recently elected new officers and members to its board of directors at its annual business meeting, the National Pork Industry Forum.

Elected as president of the organization was Jim Heimerl, of Johnstown, Ohio. Heimerl and his wife Kathy, along with three sons and a daughter-in-law, run three farrow-to-finish farms in Ohio and own 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. Among other positions, Heimerl previously served as president of the Ohio Pork Council and as a board member of the Ohio Soybean Association.

David Herring, a hog farmer from Lillington, North Carolina, was elevated to president-elect of the organization. Herring is vice president of Hog Slat, which supplies equipment to pork operations, and of TDM Farms. He and his two brothers started in the farm in 1983 as a feeder pig operation. Today, TDM Farms is a sow farrow-to-finish operation, with farms in North Carolina, Illinois and Indiana. Herring is a past president of the North Carolina Pork Council.

Howard A.V. Roth, a hog farmer from Wauzeka, Wisconsin, was chosen as vice president. A fifth-generation farmer, he owns and operates Roth Feeder Pigs. In addition to serving on the NPPC board for the past six years, Roth previously served on the Wisconsin Pork Association board of directors and currently serves as chairman of the association’s Swine Health Committee.

Heimerl takes over from Ken Maschhoff, a pork producer from Carlyle, Illinois, chairman of Maschhoff Family Foods and co-owner and chairman of The Maschhoffs, the third-largest pork producer in the United States. Maschhoff now is NPPC immediate past president and chairman of the organization’s Trade Policy Committee.

Re-elected to the board for another three-year term were Dale Reicks, of New Hampton, Iowa, and Kraig Westerbeek, of Warsaw, North Carolina. Craig Andersen, of Centerville, South Dakota, and Duane Stateler, of McComb, Ohio, were elected as new members of the board for a three-year term. Elected as the Allied Industry Council representative was Gordon Spronk, of Pipestone, Minnesota, a veterinarian and chairman and senior owner of Pipestone Holdings.

They join current directors Cory Bollum, with Hormel Foods Corp. in Austin, Minnesota—who is the Packer Processor Industry Council representative—Phil Borgic, of Nokomis, Illinois; Jim Compart, of Nicollet, Minnesota; Scott Hayes, of Monroe City, Missouri; A.V. Roth, of Wauzeka, Wisconsin; Jen Sorensen of Ankeny, Iowa, and Terry Wolters, of Pipestone, Minnesota.

Elected for two-year terms to NPPC’s Nominating Committee were Joe Baldwin of Indiana, who was re-elected, and Jim Petrik of South Dakota.

“Jim, David and AV have tremendous experience and leadership that will greatly benefit NPPC and our producers,” said NPPC CEO Neil Dierks. “And with the addition of our new board members, NPPC once again has a strong team guiding our work of protecting the livelihoods of America’s pork producers.”