The 140-year-old swine and poultry nutrition company brings in a leader who has sold, marketed and built teams on three continents, and most recently ran a family-owned feed business.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (November 10, 2026) — Before Riaan Van Dyk takes a job, he asks one question: What will success look like a year from now? It sounds simple. In nearly three decades in animal nutrition, he has found it is the question that tells him the most about a company. When he asked Standard Nutrition Services, the answer was already written down.
Van Dyk joined the swine and poultry nutrition company, part of Omaha, Neb.-based Standard Nutrition Company’s family of agricultural businesses, in October as director of sales and marketing. He leads its sales teams through their managers, sets the annual sales plan alongside the company’s leadership team, and serves as the link between the field and the brand.
“When a company can tell you exactly what a good year looks like, you know it’s serious about getting there,” Van Dyk said. “Standard had it in writing: where it wants to grow, how it plans to get there and what it needs from this seat. That’s how a company that intends to lead for another 140 years operates.”
Boardroom to the Barn
Van Dyk is a senior commercial executive with decades of experience in animal health and nutrition across the U.S., Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and South Africa. He has held global leadership roles in marketing, strategy, and general management; and leading mergers, acquisitions and partnerships. He is know for turning businesses around and delivering strong revenue and profit growth. Most recently, he was the Director of Feed at a regional feed mill.
“My experience in family-owned businesses taught me that commitments made in the boardroom are ultimately kept at the customer level,” Van Dyk said. “Standard shares that culture of accountability and has the resources to keep raising the standard for producers.”
Van Dyk holds a master’s degree in animal breeding and nutrition and an MBA, both earned in South Africa. He lives in Urbandale, Iowa.
Pulling in the Same Direction
Van Dyk’s job is to get the company’s sales teams pulling in the same direction. That means coaching the managers who lead them, building the next generation of sales leaders and growing the company’s newer lines of business, including Essential Ag Solutions specialty products and veterinary services.
“We’re 140 years old, but we’re not standing still. As we add new lines of business and invest in innovation, we needed a leader who’d get in the truck with our consultants, sit across the table from our customers and build one plan the whole team can run with,” said Kyle Schuman, President of Standard Nutrition Services. “Riaan asked the right questions before he ever took the job. That’s exactly what we want from him in front of producers.”
Van Dyk’s arrival rounds out a leadership team Standard has been building for more than a year as it positions itself to better serve producers. Schuman was named President in August 2025, longtime nutrition consultant TJ Williams became Regional Business Manager, and Dr. Chad Stahl joined as Director of Innovation last fall.