Wednesday night, Oklahoma State University (OSU) student Cooper Kline completed his tenure as Oklahoma's State FFA President. Despite that big change, we are confident what will not waiver is Cooper's years-long involvement with the Oklahoma Pork Council. From livestock shows to Oklahoma Pork Congress and many touch points in-between, Cooper has proudly been a "pig kid" who has taken full advantage of many opportunities to engage with Oklahoma Pork.

Earlier this week, Cooper's longstanding connection with Oklahoma Pork was sweetly acknowledged in front of thousands of FFA members and guests when he publicly thanked our executive director Kylee Deniz on stage as one of his greatest mentors in the swine industry. Kylee and several board and staff members have enjoyed supporting Cooper over the past five years, and we are excited to see what his future holds within the pork pipeline.

Another highlight during general sessions within the BOK was Oklahoma Pork's fifth year securing 10 coveted "Very Important Person" seats right in the action of State FFA Convention. We continued the tradition of selecting various FFA chapters who are home to shining stars within Oklahoma's pork industry to sit in the Pork Council VIP row during general sessions throughout the week.

For the 2026 State FFA Convention this week, here are the chapters we invited to bring 10 students to our VIP row for a session under the bright lights: Meeker FFA, Yukon FFA, Hydro-Eakly FFA, Tipton FFA, Stillwater FFA, and Wellston FFA. Our team loved watching these students light up feeling extra special for their love of pigs as they enjoyed part of convention with an awesome view.