National Pork Board Names Chris Hodges as Chief Executive Officer

January 14, 2015 — 

Chris Hodges, a pork industry leader with substantial senior management experience in agriculture, will join the National Pork Board as its new chief executive officer on Feb. 16. Currently based in Kansas City, Hodges is senior vice president - business development of Smithfield Farmland. [Source: National Pork Board]

Hodges brings to the Pork Checkoff decades of in-depth knowledge and innovation in marketing pork to key U.S. food retailers and into international markets. Much of his fresh pork marketing experience includes direct producer outreach and involvement related to adopting on-farm practices specifically designed to improve overall meat quality. His last day with Smithfield will be Feb. 13, upon which he will move to Des Moines to lead the Pork Checkoff.

Last June at World Pork Expo, Hodges publicly endorsed the Pork Checkoff's swine industry audit task force as it unveiled a single, common approach to streamline how pork is produced in the U.S. This new industry standard for auditing pork production aligns many diverse practices into a common protocol. It has been supported and accepted by pig farmers, packers, processors, retailers and others throughout the pork supply chain.

Hodges is also a retiring board member of the National Pork Producers Council. He served as chairman of its Packer Processor Industry Council since 2013.

Prior to his current role, Hodges advanced at Smithfield Foods - a $14 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. He previously served as senior vice president, fresh pork and industrial sales at Farmland Foods, and led the sales and marketing teams for its Smithfield® and Farmland® brands. His industry expertise includes business development, sales and marketing, retail and foodservice outreach, new equipment and processing specifications management, risk management, feed and grains oversight and developing integrated information and technology systems.

Hodges, raised in Laurens, Iowa, is a graduate of Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa, with a focus in international relations. He also has a masters of arts in international affairs from Columbia University. Upon obtaining his graduate degree, Hodges was a project manager at the U.S Department of Agriculture, assigned to the U.S. Agency for International Development where he managed extension projects in international grain markets. He later earned a doctorate in agricultural and applied economics from the University of Minnesota.