The Pork Checkoff’s Producer Opportunity for Revenue and Knowledge (PORK) Academy sessions will once again be held during this year’s World Pork Expo. Seminars will run Wednesday, June 7, and Thursday, June 8, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, to help educate pig farmers on the latest trends in pork production. “The PORK Academy sessions offer more … Read More
NPPC Says New NAFTA Must Not Disrupt Pork Exports
Following the notification by the Trump administration to Congress that it intends to modernize the trade agreement among the U.S., Canada and Mexico, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) urged the president to make sure that tariffs remain at zero for pork traded in North America. The White House notified the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees that … Read More
Animal Ag Responds to Creation of Undersecretary for Trade
The importance of international trade to American agriculture has been recognized by our new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue with the the creation of an undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs in the USDA. “Food is a noble thing to trade. This nation has a great story to tell and we’ve got producers here that produce more than … Read More
Animal Proteins – Focus for Branstad as China Ambassador
The longest serving governor in the country will be drawing on his agricultural trade experience and 30 year friendship with Chinese President Xi Jinping to serve as U.S. Ambassador to China. During his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad was asked by Sen. Christopher Coons (D-DE) what he will do to get more … Read More
Pork’s 6 Year Growth Is the Fastest in Foodservice
The National Pork Board has released a report on the fastest-growing protein…pork. According to Technomic, Inc.’s 2017 Volumetric Assessment of Pork in Foodservice, over the past six years, pork use has grown on a pound basis by more than double chicken, which is the next fastest growing protein. Pork use increased by 1.145 billion pounds, while chicken use grew by … Read More
NAHMS Survey to Measure Antibiotic Use, Stewardship
USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) will begin asking pig farmers who have at least 1,000 pigs and farm in any of the top 13 pork-producing states about their on-farm antimicrobial use and their related stewardship practices this spring. Those states include Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and South Dakota. The … Read More
Strong Pace Continued for U.S. Meat Exports
Statistics released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) show February results for U.S. pork and beef exports well above levels from this time last year, with pork exports posting the strongest February volume on record. Pork exports were up 15 percent year-over-year, with value up 17 percent. February exports accounted for 27.6 percent of total … Read More
USDA’s Quarterly Hogs & Pigs Report
The Pork Checkoff announced the USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report. The call featured three distinguished agricultural economists and their reactions to the report. A general theme of hog number growth sat centerstage. The panelists included: – Len Steiner, President, Steiner Consulting Group, Merrimack, NH – Daniel Bluntzer, Partner, New Frontier Capital Markets LLC, Corpus Christi, TX – Kevin Bost, … Read More
Animal Ag at Alltech’s #ONE17
ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE17), held May 21–24 in Lexington, Kentucky, will inspire, motivate producers and prepare them for the future. The three-day conference will bring together industry experts from across the globe to share insights and solutions to today’s most pressing issues within agriculture. To provide an opportunity for every corner of production agriculture to engage in disruption, … Read More
Animal Ag Calls for Withdrawal of GIPSA
Animal agriculture organizations united last week when they called on USDA to withdraw the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Act (GIPSA) interim final and proposed rules, labeled with the misleading title, Farmer Fair Practices Rules. Craig Uden, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) president, said the rules stand to threaten market incentives, the quality of American beef the industry is known … Read More