The old joke was: You know it's going to be a bad day when you find a 60 Minutes crew on your doorstep.

Unfortunately, the humor is lost on today's pork producers, replaced by the reality that modern operations are increasingly vulnerable to outside scrutiny, based on real or perceived shortcomings that can range from environmental issues to animal care concerns to food safety matters and more.

Cindy Cunningham, assistant vice president of communications for the National Pork Board, has been giving a producer presentation titled, “Are You Prepared for an Activist Group?” She notes that audience interest and response clearly shows a growing awareness and reluctant acceptance by producers that they, and their farms, are not immune.

Strive for the Best, Plan for the Worst

The best defense is a good offense, Cunningham points out. Committing to industry programs, including Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA Plus), Transportation Quality Assurance (TQA), the We Care Responsible Pork Initiative and the Ethical Principles, can decrease the likelihood your operation will be targeted. As important, your participation in these programs can provide key support for a reasoned response.

If your operation is targeted, being prepared to respond can make the difference between an incident being an uncomfortable but relatively minor disruption in the life of your business, or one bringing it to the brink of ruin. Waiting until a crisis hits is not the answer.

“Producers have action plans for breeding and feeding programs, crop rotations, manure/nutrient management and more,” Cunningham points out. “An emergency action plan for dealing with a public crisis is just as important.”

While the details of a crisis won't be known until it happens, prior planning can provide a framework for dealing with these situations, and everyone in the operation should be familiar with the key elements.

The Internal Crisis Team

The plan should identify individuals to serve as part of a small, quick-response crisis team. The job of this team is to assess the situation, confirm that it is real and gather the initial facts.

After the initial assessment, this team may want to reach out to outside expertise, possibly including the consulting veterinarian, legal counsel, state and national association advisors and similar resources.

This larger but still nimble group can tailor an appropriate message for responding to the situation, and help identify the best spokesperson who will be charged with keeping the message consistent as well as be “the face” of the business to the outside world.

This person should be credible and informed. The message should be clear and simple: What happened and what is being done to address it, encompassed in a brief overview of the operation and management's commitment to resolving the issue. It should not be a cover-up. Professionals advise, “Tell it all, tell it fast and tell the truth.”

An owner or manager is usually the best choice for the spokesperson. Only in rare instances should legal counsel fill this role. Avoid “canned” statements; use talking points instead.

The public is not patient. Your plan should include contact information for all key players, with the same for back-ups in case one or more key players are not available. The longer a response is delayed, the less effective any reply becomes.

Notify Other Stakeholders

Beyond the individuals included above, a crisis plan should identify other stakeholders who need to hear of the situation and plan of action first. Employees top this list. They need to know not only the specifics of what is happening and what is being done, but also who the spokesperson will be, as they need to direct any outside questions to this person.

“Your first responsibility is to the safety of your family and employees,” Cunningham points out. “Your second concern is the welfare of the animals. You need these employees to be able to do their jobs in the midst of the crisis.” This can be especially tricky in situations where misconduct by one or more employees triggered the event, and it's important to reinforce your support for those not involved.

Other stakeholders might include lenders, feed suppliers, packers, contract growers, neighbors, community leaders and even local law enforcement. Actively notifying these individuals allows you to be proactive rather than reactive.

Recognize that your spokesperson may not be able to personally communicate with each of these in a timely manner. Others can be assigned to make these contacts, with the caveat that they simply relay the predetermined facts (in this case you may want a brief written script), and redirect any questions to the spokesperson, such as: “ (name) will call you as soon as possible to answer your questions, but he/she wanted you to be aware of the situation now.”

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