Zeke McCullen of Clinton, N.C., was awarded the Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes a pork producer aged 40 or younger who has contributed to the pork industry in North Carolina and exhibits potential for leadership. McCullen is a partner in McCullen Livestock LLC, which includes swine finishing farms and a 700-head cow-calf operation. On a daily basis, he manages 34 finishing barns that are on contract with Prestage Farms. He also grows, harvests, and bales hay for his cows, and markets the excess.
McCullen is serving in his second term on the NCPC board of directors and serves on the NCPC promotions and outreach committee and the awards committee. On the local level, Zeke is involved with livestock programs through the NC Cooperative Extension Service in Sampson County.
“There are a lot of future farmers who look up to Zeke,” said Joshua Coombs, a fellow board member and Sampson County pig farmer. “He is passionate about what he does every day. He and his wife Natalie strive to instill that same passion and love for farming in their sons, Hugh and Holt.”
McCullen says he has been glad to learn a whole new side of the industry through his service on the NCPC board of directors and sees a role to help his generation and the next to become more engaged.
“When Brian asked me to run for the Pork Council, I wasn’t much for that side of the business, but my dad encouraged me to run,” he said. “Now I’ve seen that side of the business, and I think it’s very, very important to advocate for our industry. With all the stuff going on in the world today, it seems like everyone is trying to attack and the Pork Council is out there fighting.”
