Apr 15, 2005 12:00 PM,
by Joe Vansickle, Senior Editor (952) 851-4670; jvansickle@primediabusiness.com
A new slate of officers and board members were selected at the recent annual meeting of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) at Pork Industry Forum.
Elected president is Don Buhl, the Tyler, MN, owner of Buhl's Ridge View Farm Inc., a wean-to-finish operation that markets 20,000 hogs. Buhl was president of the Minnesota Pork Producers Association in 1996.
Joy Philippi, a pork producer from Bruning, NE, is president-elect. She owns Pine Alley LLC, which includes a 2,000-head nursery that handles 14,000 pigs annually, from weaning to feeder pig size, for a local producer network.
New NPPC vice president is Lois Britt of Mount Olive, NC. She serves as special assistant to the president of Murphy-Brown LLC and owns a crop and livestock farm.
Elected recently to the NPPC board of directors were:
Sam Carney of Adair, IA, owner of Carney Farms, a wean-to-finish production system that markets 6,000 hogs annually.
Mark Street of Ephrata, WA, owner of Sun Basin Pork Farms, which includes a wean-to-finish operation marketing over 2,000 hogs/year.
Dan Sutherland of Watertown, WI, who works at Johnsonville Sausage LLC and will serve as the Packer Processor Industry Council representative on the NPPC board.
There was a lot to be positive about in the pork industry the last week of October. I realize it is difficult to be optimistic when you are still losing $25 to $30/head. I also realize that positive news at this point could be as dangerous as it is welcome. But facts are facts, and we must recognize them.
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As I begin this week's column, I"m reminded of two different "flip side" statements that may help characterize the topic at hand. The first is the old Archie Campbell schtick - "That's good - no that’s bad," which I have used before. The second reflects President Truman's frustration with economists' incessant use of the qualifier - "on the other hand" - to introduce the contrary opinion on a given topic. President Truman once demanded in his usual colorful language: "Will someone please find me a *!&%$*?>