Membership of the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) elected Randy Spronk, a pork and grain producer from Edgerton, Minn.,as their chair at the USMEF Strategic Planning Conference, which wrapped up Friday in New Orleans.
A past president of National Pork Producers Council and Minnesota Pork Producers Association, Spronk is president and managing partner for Spronk Brothers Holding. He is also part of a group of producers that purchased a former Hormel plant and is marketing pork products under the label of Wholestone Foods.
In this USMEF Audio Report, Spronk details his priorities for the coming year to set U.S. pork, beef and lamb apart from the global competition in order to build demand. He notes that exports play a critical role in building back profitability for pork producers.
Spronk succeeds outgoing USMEF Chair Dean Meyer, a grain and livestock producer from Rock Rapids, Iowa. Steve Hanson, a cattle rancher from southwestern Nebraska who is also president of the Nebraska Cattlemen, will serve as USMEF chair-elect. The vice chair is Jay Theiler, executive vice president of corporate affairs for Agri Beef, based in Boise, Idaho. The newest USMEF officer is Secretary/Treasurer David Bruntz, a farmer and cattle feeder from Friend, Neb. He is a past chair of the Nebraska Corn Board and a past president of the Nebraska Cattlemen.
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