Thunder (ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah). As the familiar AC/DC song roared, Iowa pig farmer Rob Brenneman walked to the stage to share his first comments as National Pork Producers Council’s newest president.
Raising pigs is more than a job to Brenneman. In order to give back to the industry that has done so much for him, he said yes to the opportunity to lead NPPC and help protect opportunities for the next generation of pig farmers.
Connecting Policy to Reality
“NPPC fights battles that producers cannot fight alone,” Brenneman says. “NPPC is the unified voice for pork producers, protecting our freedom to operate. I’m looking forward to getting out and meeting other producers, listening to their ideas, and making something out of their ideas.”
Industry challenges surrounding animal health, overhead costs and consumer trust aren’t going away. Immediate challenges like tariffs, Mexico antidumping/countervailing duty investigations and labor are top of mind, too.
“When real pork producers go to D.C., policymakers listen differently,” Brenneman says. “You can explain how policies affect your day-to-day operations better than anyone. You have the knowledge and experience to help policymakers make informed decisions. Our collective voice protects all pig farmers. We connect the policy to reality.”
For example, during comments by Julie Callahan, chief agricultural negotiator with the Office of the United States Trade Representative, at the National Pork Industry Forum, she shared how important NPPC and pork producers are to their office.
“They call us and ask for input,” Brenneman says. “Being at the table allows us to give the input about what independent producers want. That gives me hope. NPPC gives me hope as an independent producer, that we’ve got a chance. We’ve got to keep our doors open to trade.”
Of course, not all of the work NPPC does makes headlines, he points out. Some of the simpler things, like what NPPC did with labor, didn’t get as much hype.
“I had the opportunity to be in on those meetings with key people in Washington, D.C., and they listened to us, and it helped,” he says. “I don’t think everybody gets that. The TN Visa situation is a big deal, and I don’t think a lot of people understood how some of that gets corrected or incentivized to be better. There are so many unseen things that don’t happen because you’re at the table. Nobody knows they were ever a threat, which means we’re doing our job.”
A Unified Industry
Of all the important messages like this shared at National Pork Industry Forum, Brenneman hopes people hear one important thing: The pork industry is unified.
“We are not fragmented, and we work together as much as we can,” he says.
A self-described “high-horsepower, high-speed guy,” Brenneman will be focused on continuing to encourage unity during his presidency. He also is setting the bar high for staff, producers and the entire industry.
“I have very high expectations,” he says. “I expect things to get done, and I expect delivery. I expect an end to what they’re doing. I think that’s only fair as we work in an industry that has high expectations. It’s my job to provide leadership and coaching to get us there. I want to provide the tools needed to fix what’s broken or improve what’s already going well.”
From a policy standpoint, he hopes to close the chapter on Proposition 12 and prevent a patchwork of state laws in the next year.
He knows the job is going to require a tremendous lift from his entire family and the entire team at Brenneman Pork.
“Without my wife Char by my side, this would never work,” he says. “I’ve got a tremendous team and tremendous family at home who are involved and standing by me to help me succeed at this. We operate by this phrase in our operation: Failure is not an option.”
Brenneman also points out that his wife knows him better than anyone.
“She knows my throttle and my brake,” he says. “She knows what accelerates that, what slows it down and what stops it. Some days, that’s not good for me, but it’s good for everybody else.” Listen to Rob and Char Brenneman on Episode 26 of The PORK Podcast.
A Voice for America’s Pig Farmers
The list of tasks ahead is long. If Brenneman could accomplish just one thing on the list, it would be to encourage more people to support the NPPC and the Strategic Investment Program.
“With that support, we gain advocacy and a voice,” he says.
Brenneman says he’s personally going to give this position everything he can.
“I want to emphasize how hard I am going to work at this to make sure that I do everything I can to make a difference for independent producers in this country,” he says. “Coming from Washington County, Iowa, you realize there are still independent producers out there. I’m in this for all of them, every single one. This is not about me – this is about them.”
Surrounded by hog barns and corn fields, Brenneman knows the fight is worth it.
“We have to revitalize rural America,” he says. “We live in the No. 1 hog county in Iowa, and it shows. That’s why ground is so high – that’s why young farmers are here. They came home to farm because they built a building, they got manure and they got a job, and now they farm. When I drive by farms and see kids on a four-wheeler or see kids showing pigs at the county fair, I’m reminded that they are the future. I do not want that to dry up.”
That’s one of the things NPPC CEO Bryan Humphreys appreciates most about Brenneman – his passion for the future leaders of this industry.
“His love and dedication to not just the industry, but this industry for literally generations to come, is incredible,” Humphreys says. “When Rob Brenneman talks about the pork industry, he doesn’t talk about the pork industry for him or for Char. He talks about it for his kids. He talks about it for his grandkids. He talks about it for his great grandkids. That long-term perspective of business continuity – of what we can do to make agriculture and raising pigs not just a good business, but fun for the next generation – is incredibly valuable.”
Pork (ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah).
