Indiana Pork Names Award Winners

Feb 06, 2023

Indiana Pork recently presented three awards to individuals who have dedicated much time to advancing the pig industry.

Mark York was the recipient of the Producer Meritorious Service Award. He farms in Wabash County with his wife Christine. Mark is a Purdue graduate, with a degree in Ag Economics, and is a former president of the Indiana Pork Board. He is active in his community serving as Wabash County Farm Bureau President. Mark and Christine were honored as the first Wabash County Farm Family of the Year by their Chamber of Commerce in 2010 and Mark received Master Farmer designation in 2017. He has also led a ground pork donation project that supports Wabash County Food pantries.

Indiana Pork awarded its Industry Meritorious Service award to Dr. Kara Stewart. She holds her undergraduate degree from Purdue and her Master’s and Ph.D. from NC State. In July of 2013, she accepted a faculty position in reproductive physiology in the Animal Science department at Purdue. Dr. Stewart carries a majority extension appointment working across several species, predominantly swine, and taught a reproductive management and a reproductive physiology course for undergraduates. Her recent research has been investigating nutritional strategies in boars and survival of neonatal piglets. Dr. Stewart is the recipient of the Richard L. Kohls Outstanding Early Career Teaching Award and the George Foxcroft Lectureship award for translating science into practical and usable information for pork producers.

Nick Maple received the Contract Grower award. Nick contract grows hogs in Miami County for Oracle Pork. He is active in his community and his church. Nick served on the Indiana Pork Board of Directors, including serving as President of the board for two years. He is married with two children.

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Video: 2026 T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science - Dan Weary

T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science: "Using science to assess and improve the welfare of dairy cattle"

Dan Weary is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. Dan did his BSc and MSc at McGill and Doctorate at Oxford before co-founding UBC’s Animal Welfare Program where he now co-directs this active research group. His research focuses on understanding the perspectives of animals and applying these insights to develop methods of assessing animal welfare and improving the lives of animals. His work has helped drive changes in practices (including the adoption of higher milk rations for calves and pain management for disbudding) and housing methods (including the adoption of social housing for pre-weaned calves). He also studies cow comfort and lameness, social interactions among cows, and interactions between cows, human handlers and technologies like automated millking systems that are increasingly used on farms. His presentation will outline key questions in cattle welfare, highlight recent UBC research addressing them, and showcase innovative methods for improving the lives of cattle and their caretakers.