The National Pork Board has named Leon Sheets from Ionia, Iowa as America’s Pig Farmer of the Year® for the remainder of 2017-18 program year. He was selected to replace Leslie McCuiston, who had to step down from the role after taking a new position in the agricultural industry where she will not directly work with pigs, which is obviously the main requirement for Pig Farmer of the Year!

“With the unexpected change, the National Pork Board reached out to our America’s Pig Farmer of the year judging panel,” said Terry O’Neel, a pig farmer from Friend, Nebraska, and president of the National Pork Board. “The panel unanimously voted to elevate Sheets, a finalist from last fall, with the move adopted and supported by all members of the National Pork Board.”

Sheets started farming with his grandfather when he was a child and currently raises 33,000 pigs on his farm in northeast Iowa, where he focuses on animal care and environmental sustainability. With the help of his employees, son and wife, Sheets also grows corn, soybeans, hay and cover crops. Leon will serve in the role until a new America’s Pig Farmer of the Year is announced in October 2018.