Live Production
Veterans

During his extensive career, Mike Putnam has held sales and management roles at leading animal nutrition and animal science companies, including managing sales for a Fortune 400 company. He is active in many state and national agricultural associations and groups. He holds a degree in marketing and management from the University of Sioux Falls.

Kimber Ward has more than 30 years of experience in the poultry industry that spans animal health, integration and farm production, including broiler production and PLT application. He began his career as a service tech with Perdue in 1984. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from the Mid America Nazarene University.

With a strong background in turkey production, Anton Ward manages turkey and broiler accounts as well as dairy accounts. A South African native, Ward earned his degree in animal science from Pretoria Technikon and worked for the South African Meat Board before moving to the US. Over the last 23 years, he has served in various roles in turkey production including working as a turkey grow out manager at Nash Johnson/House of Raeford and a program manager at Butterball. He also sold equipment to turkey, chicken and cage-free egg producers for Georgia Poultry Equipment. As a member of the American Boer Goat Association, he serves as a judge for competitions in the US and Canada.

After earning a poultry science degree with graduate studies focused on coccidiosis from Texas A&M, Casey Jones began his career as a warehouse and later sales manager for animal health distributor WYNCO (now MWI) in Texas. He went on to hone his negotiation and contract development expertise in the oil and gas industry prior to returning to animal agriculture in 2019. Since joining Jones-Hamilton, Casey has supported producers and integrators as a key account manager in the western US, along with managing research projects focused on paw quality and the impact of pH reduction in litter.

Buddy Dryden supports poultry producers in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North and South Carolina. He has extensive experience in various facets of the poultry industry including animal health, integration and production, including PLT application.

Steve Noble’s poultry experience spans animal health, integration and production vaccine programs on both the live production and customer support side of the business. He began his career in the industry in 1999 on the breeder side of live production for OK Foods where he worked with pullet and breeder growers, service techs, vaccine crews, move crews, and allied industry personnel. Prior to joining Jones-Hamilton, Noble managed sales territories for IVESCO / MWI Animal Health and Boehringer Ingelheim, where he focused on vaccine programs and disease prevention. He holds a degree from Westark College.

Rory DeWeese supports poultry producers in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and Indiana. With 35 years of experience in the poultry industry including complex management, director of live production, and regional vice president, DeWeese understands the challenges and opportunities in live production and is excited to support the industry with industry-leading products.

Adam Ortego supports poultry producers in Alabama and Mississippi. Ortego has nearly 20 years of live production experience, including managing contract growers, broiler and flock supervisors for Foster Farms, Sanderson Farms and others. Ortego holds a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture business from Louisiana Tech University.

Greg Temples has more than 10 years of experience across various facets of animal health, integration and farm production including broiler production and PLT application. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Agriculture Business from Southern Arkansas University.

Michael Cronic is no stranger to the poultry industry in the southeast, serving in all levels of live production over the last 25 years. He is a graduate of North Georgia Technical College and attended the University of Georgia AGL (Advancing Georgia’s Leaders in Agriculture) Leadership Program.