Full Name
Gary Cooper
Job Title
Chief Operating Officer
Company
Cooper Farms
Speaker Bio
Gary Cooper is the Chief Operating Officer of Cooper Farms. Mr. Cooper joined the family operation of Cooper Farms in 1974 after attending Bowling Green State University. He assumed operational
control, along with his brother James R. Cooper, upon his father's retirement in 1980. Cooper Farms is a model of modern, efficient, family-owned production agriculture as a producer of hogs, turkeys, and eggs. Cooper Farms is a vertically integrated turkey operation that controls its product from egg to market. They raise and process over 318 million live pounds of turkey each year. Cooper Farms also raises and markets over 250 million live pounds of hogs and produces over 155 million dozen eggs each year. To raise all 21 million animals that go into their products each year, Cooper Farms works with nearly 450 family contract farmers across all three species. Cooper Farms was founded in 1938 by Mr. Cooper’s parents, Virgil and Virginia Cooper, in Oakwood, Ohio. Since his start, Gary has played an indispensable role in helping the company to constantly look toward the future. He always seeks to improve processes, products and methods at this innovative company, helping customers receive the highest quality products possible. Today, Cooper Farms is the largest turkey producer in Ohio and seventh largest in the United States, as well as the 29th-ranked hog producer and 16th largest egg producer in America. Cooper Farms owns and operates four divisions located in northwest and west central Ohio: a Hatchery Division, Feed and Animal Division, Processing Division, and Cooked Meats Division. Since Gary’s start with Cooper Farms in 1974, they have gone from 35 team members to the nearly 2,400 employed today. Gary is a Past-President of the Ohio Poultry Association and previously served on the Legislative
Committee for the National Pork Producers Council. He is a past Chairman of the National Turkey Federation and serves as past chairman of the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association. He is also a past board
member of the American Feed Industry Association, the Midwest Poultry Consortium and the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance.
control, along with his brother James R. Cooper, upon his father's retirement in 1980. Cooper Farms is a model of modern, efficient, family-owned production agriculture as a producer of hogs, turkeys, and eggs. Cooper Farms is a vertically integrated turkey operation that controls its product from egg to market. They raise and process over 318 million live pounds of turkey each year. Cooper Farms also raises and markets over 250 million live pounds of hogs and produces over 155 million dozen eggs each year. To raise all 21 million animals that go into their products each year, Cooper Farms works with nearly 450 family contract farmers across all three species. Cooper Farms was founded in 1938 by Mr. Cooper’s parents, Virgil and Virginia Cooper, in Oakwood, Ohio. Since his start, Gary has played an indispensable role in helping the company to constantly look toward the future. He always seeks to improve processes, products and methods at this innovative company, helping customers receive the highest quality products possible. Today, Cooper Farms is the largest turkey producer in Ohio and seventh largest in the United States, as well as the 29th-ranked hog producer and 16th largest egg producer in America. Cooper Farms owns and operates four divisions located in northwest and west central Ohio: a Hatchery Division, Feed and Animal Division, Processing Division, and Cooked Meats Division. Since Gary’s start with Cooper Farms in 1974, they have gone from 35 team members to the nearly 2,400 employed today. Gary is a Past-President of the Ohio Poultry Association and previously served on the Legislative
Committee for the National Pork Producers Council. He is a past Chairman of the National Turkey Federation and serves as past chairman of the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association. He is also a past board
member of the American Feed Industry Association, the Midwest Poultry Consortium and the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance.
Speaking At
