20100608 world pork expo news

Pork is Tweet. As social media’s credibility gains traction, ag-related events are embracing Twitter and Facebook as a means of publicizing events beforehand and communicating with attendees during the event. This was the first year that World Pork Expo utilized social media, including Twitter and Facebook accounts, before, during and after the actual event.

Registrations were up 22 percent at the World Pork Expo Junior National held June 8-11 in Des Moines, Iowa. More than 600 junior swine exhibitors representing two countries and 25 states participated in the gilt and barrow shows, a showmanship competition and a judging contest. The event was hosted jointly by the National Junior Swine Association and Team Purebred. The NJSA is the organization for youth involved with purebred Duroc, Hampshire, Landrace and Yorkshire breeds, and Team Purebred oversees activities for members showing Berkshire, Chester White, Poland China and Spot breeds. Junior board members from the two organizations presented more than $25,000 in premiums and awards to the youth exhibitors.

The World Pork Expo organisation announced that in total, more than 20,000 producers and 400 exhibitors celebrated the pork industry’s return to profitability during the event which was held in Des Moines, Iowa, June 9-11. Related * AVMA: Policy on swine castration, tail docking,... * Pork board reacts to April Fools' Day joke on... * Pig producer Smithfield reports loss in 2010... The 2009 World Pork Expo fell in the midst of the H1N1 flu outbreak, and producers’ spirits were lower than the hog prices. Now one year later, exports are up significantly, and many operations are back in the black. Excitement and optimism set the tone for this year's edition of the show.

Pork producers are upbeat, says Sam Carney, president of the National Pork Producers Council. "Things are going excellent," said Carney at last week's World Pork Expo. "The whole environment and industry have changed so much since we started becoming profitable. We have the best of both worlds, lower feed costs and higher prices."

It once was that as people drove through the countryside, they would see pigs in the barnyards and fields, but then producers put a roof over their pigs to keep them sheltered from the rain and then walls around their pigs to keep them sheltered from the cold and heat and other natural factors. So today, as people drive through the countryside they do not see any pigs and "the good job that we are doing with our animals."

National Pork Board president Tim Bierman, speaking to reporters at the WPX this week, challenged all pork producers to become certified in PQA Plus and pass site assessments by the end of this year, saying that this would be "our goal." PQA Plus, the pork industry's pork quality assurance program, provides education and certification in animal welfare and food safety, with farm, or site, assessments to make sure producers are in compliance with PQA Plus standards.

This year, the world apparently is coming back to the World Pork Expo, which begins today at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Representatives from South Korea and the European Union will be present this week and, along with other visitors, are expected to help increase attendance from 14,265 at the annual show last year.

If the U.S. Congress doesn't get on with ratification of the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiated by South Korea and the U.S., "it will be a nightmarish scenario" for U.S. pork producers and other U.S. manufacturers and producers, Jong hyun Choi said, speaking to trade media reporters at a WPX news conference this morning.

The economics for pork producers this week are far improved compared to the last two years when producers came to the WPX experiencing substantial drains on their equities -- a $6 billion drain from the fourth quarter of 2008 through the first two months of this year -- noted Dr. Steve Meyer this morning. Speaking to a news conference, Meyer, head of Paragon Economics in Adel, Iowa, said producers returned to profitability in March after cutting production back enough to decrease pork suppliers enough to increase pork and hog prices enough to cover new and permanently higher costs of production.

Just three months after adopting a new five-year strategic plan, the National Pork Board is busy implementing the plan's vision, according to NPB President Tim Bierman. "Through the pork checkoff, we've set our sights on ‘Leading a World-Class Food Industry,’ and I'm already beginning to see some evidence of making that happen," Bierman, reported on Wednesday at World Pork Expo in Des Moines. "If you look at the plan’s three focus areas — helping farmers produce hogs in a socially responsible manner; refreshing the image of pork to increase consumer demand; and pursuing strategies to remain competitive globally — you can see some of the specific steps to implement the plan and its vision."

Foreign animal diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease are significant threats to the entire U.S. pork industry. National Pork Board officials, veterinarians, pork producers, emergency responders and government officials were on hand Tuesday in Des Moines to discuss emergency preparedness, policies and procedures to follow in the event of an outbreak of a foreign animal disease outbreak in the United Sates.

With a marching band to accent the occasion, the National Pork Board announced record participation in the industry’s Pork Quality Assurance Plus program at the opening day of World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa. Taking the NPB’s producer initiative to the next level was a highlight of festivities as the World Pork Expo kicked off festivities Wednesday.

I’ve been hanging out in the Novus International tent this morning during World Pork Expo and the place is busy with activity. Two areas that have been highly discussed around the tables are American legislation to ban the use of certain antibiotics in livestock and poultry. This has already been done in Europe and with the global marketplace for food, other countries are looking at adopting similar European policies. A second topic of interest has been the importance of feed quality and the problems that pork producers have been having over the past 12-18 months dealing with micotoxins.

Just months after adopting a new five-year strategic plan, the National Pork Board is busy implementing the plan’s vision, National Pork Board President Tim Bierman told reporters Wednesday at World Pork Expo in Des Moines. "Through the Pork Checkoff, we’ve set our sights on "Leading a World-Class Food Industry," and I’m already beginning to see some evidence of making that happen," said Bierman, a pork producer from Larrabee, Iowa. "If you look at the three areas of focus in that plan – helping farmers produce hogs in a socially responsible manner; refreshing the image of pork to increase consumer demand; and pursuing strategies to remain competitive globally – you can see some of the specific steps to implement the plan and its vision."

This year, the world apparently is coming back to the World Pork Expo, which begins today at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Representatives from South Korea and the European Union will be present this week and, along with other visitors, are expected to help increase attendance from 14,265 at the annual show last year.