On August 1, the Oklahoma Pork Council hosted the 66th Oklahoma Pork Congress at the Sheraton Hotel in Downtown Oklahoma City, Okla.
The event brought together more than 100 pork producers and supporters for educational sessions and Oklahoma Pork’s annual business meeting to elect new leadership.
One highlight included celebrating several award recipients for outstanding performance within Oklahoma’s pork industry or steadfast support of Oklahoma pig farmers. The 2025 Oklahoma Pork Council award winners are as follows:
- Jeremy Dickinson was presented a Golden Pig Award for his longstanding example of character, knowledge, and dedication to pork production before his recent retirement as Tyson Foods’ Vice President of Live Hogs. A native of Colcord, Oklahoma, Dickinson spent more than 25 years serving agriculture through commercial pork production. Selection for a Golden Pig Award is reserved for leaders who embodied decades-long success and integrity within pork production.
- Conley Nelson was also presented a Golden Pig Award for his longstanding example of character, knowledge, and dedication to pork production before his recent retirement as Smithfield Foods’ Midwest General Manager. Nelson, a lifelong Iowan, served as a pork producer for 40 years with decades of involvement in Smithfield Foods’ Oklahoma operations. Selection for a Golden Pig Award is reserved for leaders who embodied decades-long success and integrity within pork production.
- Mario Gonzalez and Miguel Roniss were jointly named 2025 Oklahoma Pork Council Excellence Award recipients. As co-owners of four pig farms near Allen, Oklahoma, Gonzalez and Roniss are known for creating an exceptional work environment that focuses on employee development and success. As contract farmers with Tyson Foods, Gonzalez and Roniss are continual top performers in the Tyson network, in addition to being active members of their community. The Excellence Award is a peer-recommended accolade for pork producers who have made the daily work of raising pigs more than a job, but a true calling to take care of their animals and their teams.
- Hugo Hidalgo Pacheco was named a 2025 Oklahoma Pork Council Excellence Award recipient. Hidalgo Pacheco of Mooreland, Oklahoma, has proudly worked for The HANOR Company since 2016. He currently serves as the company’s compliance manager, helping area farms excel at animal husbandry standards and other important protocols. Known as a constant encourager by all his HANOR colleagues, Hidalgo Pacheco has elevated performance standards within his farms during his tenure. The Excellence Award is a peer-recommended accolade for pork producers who have made the daily work of raising pigs more than a job, but a true calling to take care of their animals and their teams.
- Dr. Michael Tripp was named a 2025 Oklahoma Pork Council Excellence Award recipient. Dr. Tripp’s career in pork production includes his decades-long service as an animal health expert through his veterinary practice and a pork producer himself through his family farm Tripp Yorkshires. As a veterinarian, Dr. Tripp educates hundreds of client families about animal husbandry, herd health, and more. He has been involved in every level of the United States show pig industry, including service on national boards and continually giving back near his local community of Ringling, Oklahoma. The Excellence Award is a peer-recommended accolade for pork producers who have made the daily work of raising pigs more than a job, but a true calling to take care of their animals and their teams.
- Oklahoma Speaker of the House Kyle Hilbert was awarded as an Oklahoma Pork Council Outstanding Legislator for ardent support of pork production at the State Capitol. Throughout the 2025 legislative session, Speaker Hilbert shepherded the Oklahoma Pork Council’s top priority bill into law – Senate Bill 1027. With his passion for agriculture and his firsthand knowledge of rural Oklahoma, Speaker Hilbert proved to be the perfect champion of this bill seeking to increase transparency in the initiative petition process and ensure rural perspectives are included during signature collection. Growing up in Depew, Oklahoma, Representative Hilbert was active in FFA, including showing pigs and serving as a State FFA Officer. Oklahoma Pork’s Outstanding Legislator recognition is reserved for policymakers who specifically defend pork industry and agriculture priorities within the policy and regulatory space.
- The Made in Oklahoma (MIO) Coalition was announced as Oklahoma Pork’s 2025 Ambassador Award recipient. MIO seeks to strengthen and diversify Oklahoma’s food supply chain by assisting locally owned businesses of all sizes with marketing and promotion. Leaders within the MIO Coalition have been active collaborators for several Oklahoma Pork Council outreach priorities in recent years, including: our annual Give-A-Ham Challenge; grocery store Shopper Sweepstakes across the state; and, emergency response feeding events after natural disasters. The Ambassador Award is given to individuals and organizations who do not work directly within pork production but serve as vocal advocates for the work done by Oklahoma pig farmers.
“Our 2025 award winners can be summed up with one word: leadership,” Kylee Deniz, executive director of the Oklahoma Pork Council shared. “The pig farmers who were chosen each show incredible leadership on their farms and in their home communities. The friends of our industry who received additional honors also spearhead impressive work that supports pork and our friends throughout rural Oklahoma. On behalf of our board and staff, it’s extremely special to celebrate these champions within our state’s agriculture community.”
