Cambalot Swine Breeders (CBS), a PIC daughter nucleus gilt multiplier, is being rebuilt and modified to meet market demand. After CBS is repopulated this fall, the Belstra Group (hog division) will total about 11,500 sows and five production companies (farms) that produce four different lines of gilts for PIC, according to Jon Hoek, head of production at Belstra Milling Co., Inc.

The Belstra Group designs, permits and oversees building construction, and hires staff to supervise the gilt production farms, four of which are located in northwest Indiana. A fifth, three-site farm is located just across the border in Illinois, and all are within a 40-mile radius of Belstra's main offices in DeMotte.

Belstra Milling is a 54-year-old company with 100 employees, 75 who work on the farms, and the remainder who work at the feedmill, Hoek explained to the Extension educator tour group. The mill produces about 110,000 tons of feed annually; 65% of the feed tonnage goes into swine feed, and the remainder is produced for the large dairy presence in northwest Indiana.

“For too long we (in the pork industry) have been focused on productivity, and by having our ‘Day at the Farm,’ we are asking people to come to our ‘house’ and let us tell our story,” remarks Belstra Milling Co. President Tim Belstra. “We want to lift the curtain of anonymity.”

Dairy Promotion

Masters at telling their story of dairy production is the Fair Oaks Farms (IN) Dairy Adventure (www.fairoaksdairyadventure.com), a short distance south of Beltsra Milling on Interstate 65. Along the way, the drive is punctuated by billboard signs inviting visitors to stop and tour the 30,000-cow working farm, birthing center and adjacent retail store and restaurant.

“It provides us with an excellent opportunity to promote both agriculture and the dairy industry and some of its products,” said CEO Gary Corbett to the swine Extension tour group. The facility opened in January 2004. In the last 15 months, an estimated 450,000 people have visited and/or taken the bus tour of the production facilities.

Corbett says flatly the goal behind building the dairy center was “to combat the lack of positive press.” The facility caters to groups who can sign up to take a bus tour of the nearby production facilities.

Last fall, national dairy officials came to Fair Oaks and surveyed visitors. The survey revealed that 50% of visitors felt they had a better feeling about the dairy industry after viewing the facility, and 50% felt the same; but amazingly, not a single visitor expressed displeasure, says Corbett. Twelve percent of the visitors said they would increase their consumption of dairy products as a result of the visit.

The Fair Oaks Dairy has also partnered and participated in a major dairy exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

Adapting the Dairy Template

Belstra's DeKryger is excited about the fact that the Pork Board has voted to allocate funds to significantly expand the current pork display at the Chicago museum, which receives 1.8 million visitors annually.

Hoek has estimated it would cost the pork industry about $250,000 to $350,000 to place a sizeable, five-year exhibit at the Chicago museum, and based on attendance figures, cost about four cents per exposure to relay pork's message to each visitor.

In DeKryger's mind, more checkoff funds should be used to promote events attracting a broader urban audience of potential pork consumers. Promoting pork at county and state fairs and race car events, for example, basically provides pork to those consumers who already are pork lovers, and doesn't reach potential pork consumers in large metropolitan areas, he concludes.