A major talking point at the 2016 World Pork Expo was the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) Act, which has been a concern of producers since the 2008 Farm Bill included new guidelines that threatened the financial security of the livestock industry. Jim Heimerl, Vice President of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), sat down with AgWired for an interview on the current state of the controversial act, as well as what the NPPC is doing to continue standing for farmer’s rights.

“We are worried that if this comes into the pork industry and do what was intended in 2010, the industry could lose all of our contracts with our packers and a few other provisions that could seriously threaten our industry,” said Heimerl. “Many of the issues that GIPSA addresses are issues that affect the poultry industry much more than the pork industry, so we are hoping that GIPSA will leave the pork market alone and work to address the issues in the poultry industry.”

In the interview, Heimerl also discussed the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP), the 12 nation free trade agreement that NPPC has shown strong, sustained support for through the years.

“TPP is a tremendous market avenue for us with all of the emerging markets coming out of the TPP relationships. It’s more than just for my era, it’s for my family. Like I’ve said, I’m from a family farm, and this will be my legacy,” he said.

Download Jamie’s full interview with Jim, and listen to the full discussion, where they cover both of these pieces of legislation in greater detail, as well as the Packer Ban and what that means for producers.

View and download photos from the event here:2016 World Pork Expo Photo Album