Reclaiming Control and Reinventing Pork Production | Joe Kerns

About the Guest Joe Kerns brings over 30 years of experience supporting agricultural operations across the livestock and grain industries. He has worked with producers, suppliers, and mills on procurement and risk management strategies including hedging, ingredient purchasing, feed quality, diet formulation, operational benchmarking, and livestock marketing. Joe previously led Partners for Production Agriculture, which was acquired by Ever.Ag, where he served as President of the Livestock Division. Today, he’s launching a new venture—AgRubicon—focused on rethinking pork industry fundamentals like price discovery, market transparency, and long-term producer viability. Joe is a tireless advocate for pork producers and brings candid, forward-looking insight into the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of pork production. What can you expect to learn from this episode of Popular Pig? Why pork producers may be giving up more control than they think—and why pricing models might need a fresh look. How Joe’s new venture, AgRubicon, aims to tackle tough industry challenges and support producer-led change. Why lasting improvements in pork production require not just better tools—but new habits. What the new PRRS-resistant pig could mean for barns, efficiency, and the next decade of production. The real reason outside investors hesitate—and why the future of ag tech likely lies within the industry itself.