Iowa Pork Welcome Summer Interns Kirby Cook, Lauren Meier

Lauren Meier of Bondurant and Kirby Cook of Winthrop are spending their summers interning with the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA). Both are Iowa State University students interested in a career in agriculture. However, their family backgrounds are quite a contrast. Kirby Cook’s family is deeply involved in the pork industry. Lauren Meier’s path to IPPA started a little differently. She did not grow up with an agricultural background, nor did her parents. “My dad moved into an old farmhouse when I was 13,” Meier said. “We had some empty barns and I convinced him to put them to use. So, I started raising chickens.” She enjoyed raising chickens so much that her small farming operation eventually expanded to raising goats. “By the time I graduated high school, we had over 50 chickens, ten goats and three horses,” Meier said. “I did everything myself from the accounting part of it, vaccines, and chores. Literally everything.” Meier is this year’s promotions and communications i