IARN — Essex farmer Dennis Liljedahl is reflecting on the positive highlights over the past year now that his term as president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association has come to a close.
During this week’s Iowa Pork Congress event in Des Moines, Liljedahl’s presidential term ended and he was succeeded by Humboldt County farmer Kevin Rasmussen. Liljedahl tells the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network that Iowa Pork had to deal with many challenges in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I view 2021 as kind of a transition year with COVID,” said Liljedahl. “It seems like it’s dominated the conversation for two years. When we started my term, we started without a Pork Congress and here we are concluding it with a Pork Congress, so we’ve hopefully transitioned to a more normal situation. Throughout the year, we’ve continued to work on those industry priorities. Prevention and preparedness for foreign animal disease have been the emphasis for a year and will continue to be an emphasis in the future year.”
Liljedahl explains what his next role will be with Iowa Pork Producers Association.
“My official position is Past President. Not a lot of specific duties. I’m still on the board and still on the executive committee to provide a little guidance and experience of how things went in my year and how we might approach them. Not a lot of official responsibilities, but just there for a little bit of the experience.”
Liljedahl says he was happy to have Iowa Pork Congress back to an in-person event this year.
“I think people really enjoyed getting back together. I know we had an outstanding Dollars for Scholars reception and auction the other evening. If we didn’t hit the $50,000 mark for scholarships, then we came very close. That’s been a highlight and the trade show is always a highlight. It seemed to me like it was fairly busy.”
Liljedahl annually raises 2,500 to 3,000 hogs in a farrow-to-finish operation near Essex in Page County. He also raises 2,500 acres of corn and soybeans.
Learn more by listening to his full interview at the the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
Pictured: Dennis Liljedahl, Outgoing President of Iowa Pork Producers Association – Photo by IPPA
