INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Pork is pleased to announce the hiring of Chad Martin as the Director of Youth Engagement. He was raised on a designated “Hoosier Homestead” farm near Walton, Ind., now in its sixth generation having been a hybrid seed corn production business and diversified livestock feeding operation. He graduated from Purdue University with a Master’s degree in Agricultural and Extension Education and a minor in Animal Science, a Bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois University and an Associate’s in Applied Science from Joliet Junior College.
His career experiences have involved rural and agriculture economic development both in Indiana and Illinois. Most recently, he has been the Project Director for the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN) at the Ivy Tech campus in Lafayette where he oversaw a $1M Lilly Endowment Initiative grant fund to accelerate the adoption of Digital Agriculture and Advanced Manufacturing technologies. He was previously a State Extension Specialist with the Purdue Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, spent time at the Indiana State Department of Agriculture with the Indiana Cooperative Development Center, and was with the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs.
“I am excited to accept this role and begin serving along with the team assembled at Indiana Pork to support youth in our state. The timing is ideal. Indiana junior livestock programs are experiencing exceptional growth in participation and the momentum continues because families see value in raising their children within this life skill building ecosystem. My hope is to help facilitate and build upon the strength of the Certified Indiana Bred program, and find even more ways to capitalize engagement opportunities which allow youth to explore their place in a pork sector career.”
“With Chad’s livestock exhibition experience and as one of the founders of Indiana’s Certified Indiana Bred program he will certainly have that part of the position covered,” said Josh Trenary, Executive Director of Indiana Pork. “But more importantly he brings teaching and extension experience that can help us with your development efforts generally. Indiana Pork can also utilize Chad’s experience with sustainable energy on our producer education side as well—making him a versatile addition to our team.”
Chad recently served as Vice President of the American Yorkshire Club with the National Swine Registry, and is currently the President of the Indiana Yorkshire Club.
Indiana Pork is a not-for-profit association representing Indiana’s nearly 3,000 family pork farmers through the pork checkoff program. Learn more at www.indianapork.org.
