During March, the Pork Checkoff’s Operation Main Street (OMS) speakers partnered with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV). OMS-trained veterinarians presented lectures during a national symposium for pre-veterinary medical students and spoke to four groups of students at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University in Pullman....More
The Sara Lee Corporation has sent a letter to its pork suppliers notifying them of the company’s intent to begin requiring a premises identification (ID) tag in all sows delivered to its Newbern, TN, processing facility effective January 1, 2015.
Sara Lee is the first processor to step up and officially require the tags, which identify animals to the premises of origin in order to facilitate movement tracking if necessary for animal health reasons....More
Iowa pork producers have succeeded in establishing a new milestone as 15,000 Iowa pork producers, employees and others involved in the pork industry have been certified through the Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus program....More
Results of the National Pork Board’s annual producer survey indicate that pork producers are very satisfied with the way things are going in the pork industry. Seventy-six percent say things are generally on the “right track.”
Only 16% said things were on the “wrong track,” with the remaining 8% having no opinion. The right-track number is the highest in the last 10 years and is 12 points above the previous high in 2006....More
The National Pork Board's six producer-led science and technology committees recently met in Dallas, TX, and reviewed research proposals to select projects that the Pork Checkoff would fund in 2012. In all, the groups reviewed more than 100 proposals, ultimately selecting those that would be of greatest benefit to the overall industry....More
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will give the keynote address and moderate a historic plenary panel at the Agricultural Outlook Forum, Feb. 23-24, 2012, in Arlington, VA. USDA is commemorating its 150th anniversary throughout 2012, celebrating the department's founding in 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln...More
The BinTrac Feedline Control from HerdStar integrates feedline control with bin monitoring by operating feed lines, agitating bins, tracking feed usage and activating alarms when necessary. It works with new or existing feed delivery systems with little or no modifications...More
The 2011 Employee Management Conference, Nov. 17-18 at the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel, is designed to help swine managers deal with the challenges of managing human resources...More
As the United States enters another flu season, the Pork Checkoff is advising producers, farm personnel and others who have contact with pigs to get the seasonal flu vaccination as soon as possible to help protect human and pig health...More
.S. beef, pork, corn and soybean producers are receiving a solid return on their checkoff investments in the U.S. Meat Export Federation’s (USMEF) export market development programs, according to a study completed recently by Harry Kaiser...More
Pork Checkoff recently kicked off the final phase of its Pork Quality Assurance-Plus program in its quest to assure food suppliers and consumers that their products are being produced in a safe, wholesome and animal welfare-friendly manner...More
The National Pork Board has added two vice presidents, Bill Winkelman and Jill Criss, to the Pork Checkoff management team. Winkelman is the new vice president of producer and industry relations...More
The National Pork Board’s challenge is working to maintain strong pork demand in the face of rising retail meat prices and continuing challenges to producer profitability...More
There’s been a lot of talk in the popular press about the greenhouse gas contributions of agriculture. Most farmers couldn’t believe the numbers being ascribed to agriculture. A new calculator developed by the University of Arkansas is showing that not only are the contributions a miniscule part of the total...More
The new pork promotion rollout took center stage at the National Pork Industry Forum. On the heels of celebrating the silver anniversary of the pork legislative checkoff, the National Pork Board introduced the roomful of delegates to the new promotional tagline: “Pork. Be Inspired”...More
All juniors and seniors in college who plan to pursue a career in swine production management or a relate field, and enroll in graduate school and major in a swine-related field...More
Despite a relatively gloomy view of the industry late last year, pork producers remained positive about the work being done through their Pork Checkoff...More
The Pork Checkoff has countered the claims of a cookbook author who recently suggested that America’s “collective hankering for meat has left us with some expensive problems,” including human health issues and environmental degradation...More
Even though H1N1 Flu Outbreak Virus has not been found in any U.S. swine herds, Pork Checkoff is continuing its crisis management plans. As we head into...More
With the long list of challenges confronting pork producers today, the National Pork Board is seeking producer input to help shape the future of the U.S. pork industry...More
