Pork industry showcased at expo
SPRINGFIELD – The Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield was all about pork this week during Illinois Pork Expo.
The two-day event included the annual meeting for the Illinois Pork Producers Association as well as a large trade show for those involved in the industry. Jason Propst of Cumberland County was named president of the IPPA. Propst is a production manager for TLS Farmer Network, LLC where he manages their wean-to-finish pig flow. He also serves as a swine enterprise specialist for FS Total Livestock Services.
“It’s a great organization to be a part of. We’ve got a great board and staff to represent that,” Propst told The Central Illinois Farm Network Wednesday.
Mike Haag is the new IPPA president-elect. Haag is from Emington and markets 16,000 feeder pigs annually. Pam Janssen of Minonk is the vice-president and treasurer for 2017 with Dale Weitekamp of Raymond serving as secretary.
The Zehr family of Washington was named the 2017 Family of the Year and Eileen Urish of Kilbourne is the 2017 Illinois Pork Ambassador. Eileen is the daughter of Tim and Deborah Urish.
New board members announced:
This year’s three new incoming IPPA board members include Darren Sims for District 6, Chad Leman, at-large director and Alan Hays who will serve as the Allied Industry Representative.
IPPA represents over 2,000 pork producers throughout Illinois and the Illinois pork industry, which contributes over $1.8 billion and more than 10,500 jobs to the state’s economy. IPPA is comprised of county pork producer groups in approximately 20 counties throughout Illinois.
