Nat Stas is a Technical Services Director for PIC and has been in the commercial swine industry for 15 years, 8 of which have been with PIC. He holds a master’s degree from University of Illinois under Dr. Mike Ellis focusing on swine genetics and reproduction.

In addition to Nat’s commitment to the commercial swine industry, he currently stays involved in the American Society of Animal Science and many livestock youth development programs and swine research programs. Nat resides in Latrobe, Pennsylvania with his wife and twin daughters.

• Why finishing mortality keeps climbing and why it costs you the most money.
• How tracking week on feed at death can quickly narrow down where your real problems are.
• Why cutting pigs open and getting a true diagnosis beats guessing every time.
• The simple things that matter most: getting pigs started right, keeping feed in front of them, avoiding feed outages, and managing space and sound feet late in finishing.

Al Wulfekuhle lives on Lake Delhi in east central Iowa, he is the owner of G&W Pork, a farrow-finish operation that markets around 50,000 pigs per year to Tyson Foods. Al also farms 640 acres of corn and soybeans. Al has business experience in managing farrow to finish pig farms and providing pork industry consulting and is a past President of the Iowa Pork Producers Association and is now serving as Past President of the National Pork Board.

Al has a passion for improving pig production and health, creating more long term demand for pork and assisting others to be successful in the pig industry. He has served on numerous IPPA, NPB and Iowa State University research projects, advisory boards, committees, and task forces. Al and his wife Kathy have 3 married children, all very successful in their careers outside of the pork industry and 9-grandchildren. His personal hobbies are traveling, physical fitness and spending time with family and friends.

• How Al Wulfekuhle built a hog operation from 45 gilts starting in 1979 and grew through both good times and hard ones.
• How relationships and trust helped Al move forward when lenders said no on a barn loan.
• Why some of the toughest times in pork production created the biggest opportunities for growth and leadership.
• Why pork demand became a top priority after 2023 and how the domestic marketing campaign took shape.
• Al’s “Golden Nugget”

Dr. Derald Holtkamp is a Professor in the Department of Veterinary Diagnostics and Production Animal Medicine (VDPAM) in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa, U.S.). He received his DVM, MS in Agricultural Economics, and B.S. in Agricultural Business with a minor in statistics, all from Iowa State University.

Prior to joining Iowa State, he was a private veterinary consultant. He has also served as a technical services veterinarian for ADViSYS Inc., Vice President of Swine Applications for MetaFarms Inc., Director of Pork Development for E-Markets, Inc., and veterinarian for Smithfield Foods in Warsaw, North Carolina. Dr. Holtkamp’s research focuses on managing infectious swine diseases, biosecurity, disease risk assessment, and the economics of animal health and disease. He has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, delivered over 70 invited presentations internationally, and given more than 220 invited talks across the United States. In addition, he has mentored over 275 professional and graduate students.

• How pig mortality directly impacts US competitiveness and why productivity gaps matter far beyond individual farms.
• What global benchmarking data shows about how the US compares to countries like Brazil and why mortality is a major driver.
• How PRRS continues to play a significant role in lost productivity and why its true economic impact is likely underestimated.
• Why biosecurity failures are usually tied to everyday processes, not rare events or one time mistakes.
• How identifying, prioritizing, and monitoring biosecurity risks matters more than debating rules like downtime length.

Sawyer Whisler is an Iowa hog farmer and the co-founder of Farmer Grade. He built an audience by sharing real day-to-day farm life through the @thislldofarm channel and later launched the Barn Talk podcast. His father, Tork Whisler, is part of the father-son dynamic behind the show and the long-term focus on trust and credibility.

• How Barn Talk grew from farm YouTube videos showing modern hog farming day to day.
• Why authenticity on camera matters when showing the good, bad, and frustrating moments.
• How the Barn Talk studio came together in a hayloft barn that had never been uncovered.
• Why avoiding sponsorships can protect credibility and help keep a weekly show sustainable.
• How Farmer Grade started when people asked to buy pork based on trust, not claims.

Jenelle Dunkelberger has worked as a geneticist at Topigs Norsvin for the past eight years. She holds a PhD from Iowa State University, where the focus of her research was on the role of host genetics in response to viral disease in pigs. She continues to study this topic, along with other health-related issues, as Head of the Topigs Norsvin Global Health and Behavior Research Platform. Jenelle resides in Minnesota with her husband and young boys.

• Why improving pig livability through genetics is not as simple as it sounds and why what we measure matters more than what we assume.
• How collecting data from commercial herds helps reveal traits like resilience, robustness, and longevity that elite nucleus animals never get the chance to show.
• How genetic selection is being used today to reduce sow death loss tied to feet and leg issues, prolapse, and unknown sudden death.
• Why disease resilience can only be improved by measuring performance under real disease pressure, not ideal conditions.
• Jenelle’s Golden Nugget

PJ Corns is the Technical Director for JBS Live Pork, Greeley, CO. Responsible for nearly 260,000 sows, boar studs and gilt development units across the Midwest.

PJ has spent his entire career forging world class results with every step from managing large sow units in North Carolina, to working internationally with PIC and his own consultancy firm where his involvement in well over 2 million sows was driven by delivering results based upon proven protocols, system maximization, people development and biosecurity implementation and execution. PJ joined JBS in his current role in September, 2021.

• Why the best farms don’t just “track KPIs” — they focus on what they can improve today.
• How to stop relying on lagging data (like farrowing rate or closeouts) and start using leading indicators.
• Why execution on the farm matters more than having the “perfect” SOP.
• Where AI is headed in pig production — and why it only works if people follow through and execute.
• PJ’s Golden Nugget

Dr. Clayton Johnson is a globally recognized swine health expert with Carthage Veterinary Services in Carthage, Illinois. A 2008 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, he began his career with The Maschhoffs, LLC—where he helped double sow production—and later joined Carthage in 2016 to lead company health initiatives.

Internationally recognized for pioneering bioeconomic models to manage PRRS and PEDrelated diseases, he’s a sought-after consultant in China, Southeast Asia, and beyond. In 2020, Dr. Johnson received the prestigious Allen D. Leman Science in Practice Award for excellence in integrating scientific rigor into swine health management. He is licensed in seven states, leads a team of veterinary professionals, and, beyond veterinary practice, hosts “The Swine Health Blackbelt Podcast” a weekly podcast series reaching a global audience of +100,000 listeners serving to distill complex swine health research into actionable insights.

• Why pig livability decisions range from quick, day to day treatment calls to major capital investments and why they should not be evaluated the same way.
• How biosecurity functions more like insurance than a line item expense and why doing it right often goes unnoticed until it fails.
• Why preventing disease on the front end usually delivers more value than managing problems after pigs get sick.
• How economics, animal care, employee experience, and long term operation health all need to be considered together when making decisions.
• Clayton’s Golden Nugget

Kiersten Hafer is Vice President of Business Intelligence and Innovation for the National Pork Board and 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, food-service 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 food-service 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.

• Why pork’s future growth depends on understanding today’s consumer and not just producing a great product.
• How data and business intelligence are being used to help sell more pork at retail and food-service.
• Why younger consumers want bold flavors, global cuisine, and finished dishes; not whole muscle cuts.
• How rethinking naming, portion size, and presentation can remove barriers to buying fresh pork.
• Kiersten’s “Golden Nugget”