11 November 2024

4 minute read

By: Sarah Mikesell

Not every family gets to celebrate the fun and uniqueness of farm life, but many of those on the US Zoetis Pork team do, including Strategic Account Manager Jeff Luebbe, DVM. He and his wife instilled a love for agriculture in their children from a young age.

Although they don’t live on a farm, Dr. Luebbe’s work helped expose his three kids to farms, and particularly pig farms, throughout their early years. The kids loved it, and it became an incentive to do well.

“If they had good grades, or if they behaved well, they got to ride along with veterinarians and go on farm visits,” Dr. Luebbe explained. “Sometimes when we needed extra help with a product trial, that was a reward too.”

That reward system started in elementary school and continues even now, when they’re in college.

“We have a big trial coming up and one of the kids is coming to help catch and sort pigs for their vaccinations. They enjoy it so much, and we love having the help.” He said it’s been special and enjoyable to build those memories.

Dr. Luebbe didn’t grow up on a farm either but also had exposure to agriculture from a young age because of family ties.

“Growing up in northeast Nebraska, you can’t help but be somehow involved in agriculture one way or another,” he acknowledged.

Although he lived in town, his father was involved in the seed corn industry and his maternal grandfather was a large animal veterinarian.

“We grew up with an affinity for agriculture and all animals,” he said.

Finding his way to a veterinary career

As a strategic account manager with his DVM, Dr. Luebbe combines the business and management side of the pork industry with the animal health side. He helps customers find solutions to the challenges they’re facing and appreciates that his background in veterinary medicine helps him understand situations.

But he admits it was a windy road that got him here.

“I worked at a veterinary clinic during high school and wanted to be a veterinarian but lost my way a little bit in college and got interested in other things,” he said.

After college, Luebbe worked for SmithKline Beecham, whose animal health business was then acquired by Pfizer Animal Health. After the company spun off its animal health business and became Zoetis, he was encouraged to consider earning an advanced degree.

“I began studying for a master’s degree in a veterinary science/biology program. I started working with cattle, pigs, disease issues, and it all reminded me that I should have stayed the course. It got me back on track.”

Luebbe finished his master’s and went on to earn his doctorate of veterinary medicine degree. After internships and externships with mixed practices clinics, he settled in a role as a swine production veterinarian.

Helping customers with their whole business

“As a production veterinarian, you’re not just involved in the health and wellness of the pig,” Luebbe said. “You’re involved in the whole business, the management from A to Z.”

This background helps him in his current role with US Zoetis Pork.

“I ask questions about what customers’ issues or problems are - what they’re facing. Most times I can relate, I have a lot of empathy, I know what they’re going through. I don’t always have a solution that involves a Zoetis product, but our product and service portfolio is broad and in most cases I do.”

Dealing with challenging times now, but looking to the future

Unfortunately, Luebbe’s pig producer customers have struggled with tough market conditions. He said producers now are talking about saving money, not making money.

“The language and attitude have changed,” he said. “It has switched from how can an input cost make me money to how do I save money or allocate resources better to minimize losses.”

He said he focuses on the ROI of pig health products. “Products with a good return on investment will help tee us up for the future, when the market is positive.”

Dr. Luebbe said he’s glad he made the decision to become a swine veterinarian, even though he went through several steps to get there. He appreciates the Heritage Feeds Tomorrow campaign because he loves helping educate people and promoting and improving the swine industry.

He doesn’t know if his kids will end up in the agriculture industry, but he is pushing their affinity for animals to focus on pigs.

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