Heather-Hill-on-NPB-changes
Hill says there is excitement over the new strategic plan and task forces that have already been formed, “and seeing where we’re headed for 2020 and what’s already being accomplished and in the pipeline to be accomplished yet this year. I think in our old process of doing things, we were in a 5-year strategic plan. Everything was very meticulous as to how it was planned out. We’re now able to move at the speed of business and react to things as they’re needed and respond.”
There is a new format for the event this year which includes shorter delegate sessions. Also, “guest speakers are being brought in by National Pork Board and National Pork Producers Council for all attendees, so I think that’s very exciting to see how our priorities are shifting,” Hill said. “We’re shifting, changing with people’s needs and demands. Everyone has so many demands on their time and only so much time to get the information they need, so hopefully this forum has been very proactive in being reactive to what people need.”
Hill finds great benefit to this forum where all types and sizes of operations are represented.
“That’s where it’s at,” she said. “Small, big, all different kinds of niche marketers. It takes all kinds of us and all of us make up the pork industry and Forum is really that opportunity for us to all see each other and connect and network and see what is making this industry tick.”
Hill is co-owner of Hill Farms, a farrow-to-finish operation that markets 30,000 pigs annually. They also grow corn, soybeans, and wheat. She is a past president of the Indiana Pork Board and is currently in a bid for reelection to the National Pork Board.
Also at the Forum, Indiana State Veterinarian Dr. Bret Marsh was presented with the National Pork Board’s Distinguished Service Award. Read more here.