Nebraska pig farmer Terry O’Neel to lead the Pork Checkoff for the next year. He is joined on the executive officer team by Steve Rommereim, from Alcester, S.D., and Brett Kaysen, from Nunn, Colo.

June 7, 2017

3 Min Read
National Pork Board elects executive leadership team
National Pork Board executive officer team: Terry O'Neel, Steve Rommereim and Brett KaysenNational Pork Board

Source: National Pork Board
Terry O’Neel, a pork producer from Friend, Neb., was elected as president of the National Pork Board at the organization’s June board meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. The National Pork Board is comprised of 15 farmer-directors representing America’s pig farmers.

“I am proud to represent our 60,000 pig farmers and I am both honored and humbled by the confidence that the board is placing in me,” O’Neel says. “From the farm, through food chain partnerships, to the consumer’s table, people care about how their food is produced. I look forward to helping to tell the story of real pig farming in the year ahead, and also to meet firsthand with the leaders who deliver our product from farm to table.”

O’Neel and his wife, Diane, own and operate O’Neel Farms, a farrow-to-finish pig farm that markets 12,000 pigs annually. In addition to pigs, O’Neel Farms also grows corn and soybeans on 700 acres.

Serving with O’Neel on the executive officer team of the Pork Checkoff is vice president Steve Rommereim, a pork producer from Alcester, S.D., and, as treasurer, Brett Kaysen, a pig farmer from Nunn, Colo. Jan Archer, a pork producer from Goldsboro, N.C., will serve as immediate past president. The four executive officers will serve one-year terms in their positions effective at the close of the June board meeting.

“As an industry, we stand ready to face our challenges and to celebrate our successes,” O’Neel says. “And we have so much going for us – from establishing our Secure Pork Supply plan to redesigning how we market our product. The Pork Checkoff is energized and we stand ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work in support of research, pork promotion and consumer and producer education.”

Getting to know the NPB leaders
O’Neel was elected to his second board term in 2016, most recently serving as vice president of the board. From 2015-16, O’Neel was board treasurer. O’Neel also served on the Domestic Marketing, Producer Services, and Pork Quality, Safety and Human Nutrition committees. He has hosted farm tours for the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska, The International Water for Food Project and various service, student and youth groups. He served as president of the Nebraska Pork Producers Board in 2007.

Rommereim is the owner, manager and operator of Highland Swine in South Dakota. Highland Swine markets 10,000 pigs annually. He also grows corn and soybeans, and has a cow-calf operation. In March, Rommereim was elected to serve a second term as a producer-member of the National Pork Board. As 2016-17 treasurer, he chaired the Finance committee and served on the Domestic Marketing committee. He is an Operation Main Street speaker and has served as a South Dakota delegate to the Pork Industry Forum since 2003. Rommereim was on the National Pork Board’s plan of work task force in 2009. He is past president of the South Dakota Pork Producers Association, serving on its board from 2001-11. He also is past president of Agriculture United for South Dakota.

Kaysen is a partner in Flatland Showpigs, a seedstock producer that markets 480 pigs annually. Additionally, Kaysen is the Western Regional sales director for the U.S. Pork Business at Zoetis, a global animal health company where he leads a sales team serving pork producers and swine veterinarians with their animal health needs. Prior to joining Zoetis, Kaysen was in the Animal Sciences department at Colorado State University, Fort Collins. This past March, Kaysen was elected to serve his second three-year term on the NPB, and currently serves on the Animal Science committee and as board representative to the Swine Health Information Center. He is an Operation Main Street speaker and serves on the National Junior Swine Association board of directors. At the state level, Kaysen serves on the Colorado Pork Producers Council.

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