Whether she’s fighting for trade access on Capitol Hill or walking through a barn with a pork producer, Maria C. Zieba exudes a quiet confidence and composure that you can’t help but notice.
“Maria is so good at what she does because she communicates clearly and effectively, no matter who she is speaking to,” says her colleague Meghan Cline, who serves as the director of policy communications for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). “She remains calm, maintains her composure and doesn’t get flustered in any situation.”
For someone who serves as vice president of government affairs for NPPC and represents America’s 60,000 pig farms, that’s no small feat, especially with all of the volatility that’s being felt in DC and in farms across the country.
“It’s a difficult time for everybody,” Zieba says. “The calls, emails, text messages I receive from producers are always encouraging, but they also tell me what’s happening in their lives. They are coming to me because they need a steady hand. They need somebody that is going to listen, understand their point of view, and lead a team that advocates on their behalf.”
There’s no room to be flustered when you are leading the international and domestic policy teams at NPPC. But the truth is her job is challenging and there are times when she feels flustered underneath that composed exterior. But her passion for the people she represents is what makes it possible to keep going despite the challenges that come her way.
“There’s nothing quite like representing the farmer and people who wake up very early in the day and go do back-breaking work before the world has even started going ,” Zieba says. “There’s nothing that provides more drive than to know that’s what their livelihoods are. They depend on people like me to understand that, but also to have their best interests at hand and be able to communicate to others that that are different than themselves.”
What’s the Buzz in DC?
As a voice for the pork industry, Zieba finds herself tackling a variety of tough topics each day. Right now, the big topic on everyone’s mind is trade.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty for our producers in key markets, and with the tariffs and pork product not going through, that’s caused a lot of work over the last few months just trying to wrap our heads around all these new tariff announcements and ongoing negotiations,” she says.
NPPC’s No. 1 priority is to help producers have economic sustainability. One of the ways Zieba and her team strive to do that is by urging the Trump Administration to help grow market access for U.S. pork exports.
“Our biggest market access request to the administration right now is on Vietnam,” she says. “We see huge potential for U.S. pork in Vietnam. Unfortunately, we haven’t exported a lot and that has to do with several factors. One, we have to pay tariffs of at least 10% into that market while our competitors are at zero. We don’t have full market access, especially for white offals, and that has hurt us. There aren’t many markets out there that will take those types of products.”
Pork Producers Want Answers
In addition to trade uncertainty, farmers want to see a farm bill passed. Zieba reminds producers of how important it is to keep urging legislators to pass a comprehensive farm bill this year that addresses all the needs of agriculture.
Is that possible in 2025?
“This year, the timing is squishy, there’s uncertainty,” she explains. “That’s definitely the word of the month or of the year. We’ve been having conversations with the committees, the Chairman, and ranking members on all NPPC priorities and what we need to see out of a farm bill. But obviously, it is a negotiation and hopefully we can start seeing some movement here in the next few months.”
Proposition 12 continues to be a major topic on Capitol Hill. She says it’s imperative to get a framework and a regulation that prevents the states from complying with a patchwork of regulations.
“It is impossible for a pork producer, or anyone else in agriculture, to market their product if they have 50 different regulations on the books,” Zieba points out. “That creates uncertainty in the marketplace. It also creates food insecurity, which is something I care deeply about.”
How Parenthood and NPPC Changed Zieba’s Life
Zieba was born in California, but her family is from Argentina and Paraguay. She spent a lot of time on her mother’s family farm in Argentina where they raised cattle, cotton and sorghum.
“I didn’t have a lot growing up and there were definitely struggles throughout the years,” she says.
As a wife and mother to a 6-year-old son, Zieba says motherhood drives what she does in her job every day.
“I don’t want my child to go through the same sort of struggles that that I went through,” she says. “I want to be sure that when he grows up, he is in a world where he can have the freedom to eat whatever he wants to eat, have the freedom to go to a grocery store and have those products available when needed.”
There’s no question parenting has also taught her patience, Zieba adds.
“Not everything happens quickly in parenting, and the same holds true on the policy side,” she says. “Sometimes you’ve got to take a breath and step back from the situation. Then say, ‘Okay, what can I accomplish today? What can I teach him today? How can I show up for him today?’”
In addition to patience and perseverance, Zieba’s experience working for NPPC has taught her another important lesson.
“You’ve got to go in and ask for everything,” she says. “Then, keep going and keep going, knowing where and when you have leverage and when you don’t.”
She’s also learned to give people more grace.
“I think we all take for granted, that, of course, everybody knows this or that,” Zieba says. “But if you’ve not been exposed to it, and it’s not been part of your upbringing, what we do in agriculture and specifically pork production can be very eye-opening.”
When you give people grace for the things they don’t know and the perspectives that may be 100% different than yours, Zieba says you will find more opportunities for understanding.
“Our differences are what make us unique,” she says. “That’s been a very great learning experience for me.”
Listen to her entire conversation, including what’s happening on the labor front with TN visas and how she’s using her proficiency in three languages to make deeper connections around the world, on The PORK Podcast with Jennifer Shike anywhere podcasts are found or watch their conversation on YouTube.
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