WASHINGTON – On Oct. 5, Lampkin Butts, president and chief operating officer of Sanderson Farms, Laurel, Miss., became chairman of the National Chicken Council. Bill Lovette, president and CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, Greeley, Colo., also took office as vice chairman and Michael Helgeson, chief executive officer of GNP Company, St. Cloud, Minn., became secretary-treasurer.

All new officers, who will serve one-year terms, were installed during the NCC Annual Conference recently held in Washington, DC.


Butts has been president and COO of Sanderson Farms since November 2004. Serving on the NCC board since 2004, Butts has also served on the boards of the US Poultry & Egg Association and the Mississippi Poultry Association.

Lovette joined Pilgrim’s as president and chief executive officer on Jan. 3, 2011. He served as president and chief operating officer of Case Foods for two years prior to joining Pilgrim’s. His career in the poultry business began in 1982 with Valmac Industries, which was later acquired by Tyson Foods.

Helgeson has served as CEO and a member of the board of directors of GNP Company (formerly Gold’n Plump Poultry) since 1993. He joined the company in 1974 and worked in various divisions. He spent his first two years with the company in Indonesia researching and developing a broiler operation.

Mike Brown of Vienna, Va., was elected to a full term as president of NCC. He joined NCC as president in March of this year, succeeding George Watts.