What Are Ohio Pork Producers Doing to Defy the Winter Slump?

Feb 10, 2025

Winter can feel like it goes on forever. That’s one reason why Jeff Tuente, owner of Tuente Farms, Inc., in Osgood, Ohio, looks forward to getting off the farm and traveling to the Ohio Pork Congress.

“It’s a great event to re-energize my passion of being a farmer and build off the enthusiasm of my peers,” Tuente says. “I saw many of my good business friends and allies in the trade show.”

There’s no question meeting new people and catching up with friends in the industry gives attendees something to look forward to all year, says Kevin Stuckey, sow division manager for Cooper Farms in Hicksville, Ohio. The educational sessions are also a great opportunity.

Step Outside Your Box
“This event helps people discover ways to make their operation better,” Stuckey says. “I also appreciate how it encourages more involvement for the younger people on our farms. Oftentimes, they started in our organization and only know our organization. You get so much more growth when you learn outside of your box.”

This year, the Ohio Pork Council offered a special track of educational sessions in Spanish. Stuckey says that’s something he appreciates with the number of TN visa workers in the pork industry now.

“They are so hungry for more information,” Stuckey says. “With the language barrier, that gets hard to provide that for them on the farm. Translation is tough – there’s a gap in pig lingo and barn lingo and getting that translated in a meaningful way.”

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.