More About Todd

Todd attended High School at Amarillo High School in Amarillo, Texas where he played basketball and was a member of FFA. In FFA he was a member of the dairy judging team, raised cattle, showed pigs and served as a chapter officer. He attended Junior College at Clarendon College in Clarendon, Texas where he was a member of a Champion Livestock Judging team coached by the legendary Jerry Hawkins. He graduated in 1997 with an Associates Degree. He then transferred to Texas Tech University where he studied Animal Science and worked at the Texas Tech Swine Research Farm under the direction of Dr. John McGlone. He graduated from Texas Tech in May of 1999 with a B.S. in Animal Science: Production Emphasis.

Upon graduating from Texas Tech, Todd relocated to Arkansas and started his career with Cargill. He joined Cargill Pork, the 5th largest pork producer in the US at the time. During his time at Cargill Pork, he was a Field Manager in the Genetic Multiplication Group overseeing multiplication sow, nursery and finishing farms in Arkansas. He was then promoted to Business Manager where he lead a team that oversaw commercial sow production for about 55,000 sows in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. He was also responsible for the employee training and internship program as well as the production record keeping for the entire Cargill Pork system.

In 2006 Todd transferred to Cargill's Animal Nutrition Business Unit where he continued his focus on live production in a variety of projects. In 2007, Todd and his family relocated to Belgorod, Russia where he served as Consulting General Manager for a new 25,000-sow pork production system. Upon returning from Russia, he began working on many international projects training Cargill's teams and working with Cargill's key accounts in Asia, Latin America, North America and Europe. 

In 2014, after 15 years with Cargill, Todd left to join Genesus Genetics where he was the Global Strategic Accounts Manager focused on managing key accounts in North America and China and business development in China and Southeast Asia. 

In 2017 Todd founded Swine Insights International, LLC (formerly known as SwineTex Consulting Services). Swine Insights is a US-based consulting company focused on providing consulting and training services to the global swine industry. Swine Insights has clients in North America, Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa.

In addition to his role as an International Swine Management Consultant, Todd is also a strategic foresight practitioner, an analyst of demographic and population trends and co host, along with Damian Mason, of a group of ag professionals called the Business of Agriculture Success Group. He received a certificate in strategic foresight from the University of Houston in 2022 and assists agriculture organizations with strategic foresight and long term business strategy. He is a sought after speaker, podcast guest and writer and has a large following on LinkedIn where he posts regularly about issues impacting the pork and broader agriculture industries. 

Todd grew up in Amarillo, Texas where he was active in sports, football, baseball and, especially basketball and was an active member FFA and of his church youth group. He has one brother, Ty, who is a full time missionary serving in Juarez, Mexico with Youth With a Mission. Todd's father, Steve Thurman, is a retired Environmental Scientist and his mother, Jana Thurman, is a retired Social Worker and Grief Counselor. 

In 1997, Todd married his high school sweetheart, Tisha and in 2022 they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Todd and Tisha are the proud parents of two daughters: Marlee (23) is a dog groomer and owner of Marlee's Puppy Parlor in Weatherford, Texas. Kinslee (13) is a middle school student and aspiring businesswoman. They are also aunt and uncle to 5 nephews and 2 nieces. 

Todd and his family live on a small acreage in Parker County, just west of Fort Worth, Texas where they raise cattle, goats and chickens. They also have a livestock guardian dog, Blue, a Great Pyrenees. When he's not working, tending to his farm, traveling or spending time with his family, Todd enjoys fishing, reading, playing poker and rooting for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Mavericks and the Kansas City Chiefs.