For Everett Forkner, being successful in his own pork operation isn’t enough. He continually finds ways to help others achieve success and pave a way for the next generation. One of his proudest moments was serving on the National Swine Registry board of directors when NSR divided into three divisions – commercial, shows/sales and youth.
“Creating the National Junior Swine Association is one of the greatest stories ever told,” Forkner says. “And it’s all about long-range planning and challenging yourself and others to look over the horizon. Somebody in that room envisioned a need for a youth organization. If we hadn’t been intentional when we had that planning session, the youth thing wouldn’t have happened.”
Being able to create new and better opportunities for people, particularly youth, still drive him today.
“My passion has always been to make a difference, to excel at whatever I do and to transfer some of that to others, especially my family,” he says. “Not everybody is given that opportunity. Unselfish leadership will take advantage of those opportunities and you’ll always end up doing the right thing and I think that’s what’s important.”
Watch Forkner explain above what he thinks the role of the stockman will look like in the future.
Click here to read more about Everett Forkner, the newest inductee in the esteemed Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Gallery. The Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Award is one of the highest honors that the livestock industry bestows on its heroes. It’s also the world’s largest portrait gallery devoted to a single industry and is maintained by the Kentucky State Fair Board and the North American International Livestock Exhibition in Louisville, Ky. The artist of Forkner’s portrait is Richard Halstead.
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