Brother Kirby Cook from Eta Chapter at Iowa State University was one of two Iowa State students interning with the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA).
Brother Cook is serving as the organization’s legislative intern and will spend six weeks of his internship with Senator Joni Ernst in Washington D.C. Afterwards, he will focus on preparing for the Pork Tent at the Iowa State Fair.
In 2021, Brother Cooke became an IPPA Youth Ambassador and said he loved the experience, leading him to apply for an internship with the organization.
Brother Cody Cornell of Alpha Tau Chapter at Western Illinois University is one of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s congressional and stakeholder affairs interns. Brother Cornell is also a Collegiate Advisory Council member for AGR. He is currently an agriculture sciences student at Western Illinois University.
Brother Gordon Spronk of Alpha Phi Chapter at South Dakota State University was recently elected Vice President of the National Pork Board. Brother Spronk is part of a multi-generational diversified farrow-to-finish and cropping farm, Spronk Brothers III, based in Edgerton, Minnesota.
He has spent many years in the pork industry, serving on the National Pork Board (NPB), and National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) committees and task forces, including chairing the NPB International Market Development Sustainability Task Force. He also recently served on the NPPC’s Board of Directors and advocated for continued development and support of the U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan.
Brother Lucas Sjostrom of Lambda Chapter from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and his family have started the world’s first “creamstillery.” The family created a cheese plant and distillery all under one roof. They utilized a network of cheese whey distillers nationwide in taking the sugar remaining from whey, fermenting it and distilling the product.
Brother Sjostrom, his wife, and parents-in-law, own and operate a 240-acre dairy farm with 200 cows. The cows are milked with a robotics system, and the farm is run with other technology including electronic activity monitors, robotic manure collectors and a robotic feed re-sorter.
Brother Cyle Rice of Alpha Upsilon Chapter at the University of Tennessee-Martin joined the Cooperative Trainee program with the First Farmers Cooperative. Brother Rice joined the First Farmers Co-Op in 2018 as a dockhand. He graduated earlier this year with his bachelor’s degree in agribusiness. He comes from a farming family that operates a cattle and diversified row crop operation mainly comprising of soybeans and corn.
Brother Hunter Bennett of Alpha Upsilon Chapter at the University of Tennessee-Martin also joined the Cooperative Trainee program with the Montgomery Farmers Cooperative. Brother Bennett will be working in the agronomy operations and the crop center.
He grew up scouting crops such as cotton, beans and corn. He recently graduated with his bachelor’s in agribusiness.
Brothers from several chapters across the nation have been recognized by the Order of Omega, the premier honor organization for Fraternity/Sorority leaders. Brother Parker Opat of Gamma Beta Chapter at Fort Hayes State University, Brother Dalton Wheeler of Epsilon Chapter at North Dakota State University, Brother Braden Dunn and Brother Will Trachte of Pi Chapter at Oklahoma State University, Brian-Paul Moore of Beta Iota Chapter at Truman State University and Austin Bell of Alpha Iota Chapter at the University of Arkansas have been initiated into Order of Omega at their institutions during the 2023-2024 academic year.
