Pork Act Delegates met at National Pork Industry Forum in Denver on March 1-3, ranked eight candidates for the National Pork Board and submitted the list to the U.S. secretary of agriculture.
The candidates, ranked in order, are:
Brad Greenway, a current board member from South Dakota
Dale Norton, a current board member from Michigan
Craig Mensink of Minnesota
Lisa Colby, a current board member from Massachusetts
Carl Link of Ohio
Janice Miller, a current board member from Nebraska
Emiley Gaskill of Indiana and
Ed Keller of New York
The secretary of agriculture will select five members from the slate elected by the delegates. National Pork Board members serve three-year terms and are eligible to serve two terms. There are 15 pork producers on the board.
Delegates also elected two members to the Nominating Committee, which recruits and screens candidates for the National Pork Board. Members of the Nominating Committee do not have to be approved by the secretary.
Delegates also approved four non-binding directives for the National Pork Board. They directed the board to:
Improve the Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA Plus) program by adding a test to the certification process, by adding an online option for certification by incorporating the handling portion of the Transport Quality Assurance program and by adding curriculum related strictly to barn workers.
Carefully consider both science and consumer confidence when making decisions affecting pork production methods and the marketability of pork products.
Cooperate with all segments of the food chain to develop workable sustainability guidelines that take into account food security, economic, ethical and environmental issues.
Conduct additional research that optimizes sow housing types and enables producers to make informed sow housing decisions; provide producers with the information and education they need to implement responsible sow housing on their farms; and ensure that customers understand the animal well-being, environmental and producer sustainability consequences of their marketing decisions.
