The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report is a current discussion point for the pork industry, and Bryan Humphreys, CEO of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), sees both positives and negatives.
On the positive side, the pork industry has been championing the value of protein as a nutrient dense component of a diet for years.
“I’m glad to see [the value of protein] in the conversation on a national and federal level and being driven home,” he says.
On the negative side, the attack on science as it relates to crop protection tools, which are necessary for the corn and soybeans fed to pigs, is alarming.
“To question those thought processes based in science, based in data and information, and to really raise those questions isn’t just a concern for us, it’s a concern for all of agriculture,” Humphreys says. “We need to be at the table for those conversations. Not just the pork industry, but all of agriculture needs to be at the table for these conversations.”
The industry has been good partners in the past for setting policy.
“Let us never forget that it is farmers who bring food and we’ve always been a part of every solution for every opportunity and challenge that has ever faced the American food supply, and this should be no different,” Humphreys adds.
Another policy topic for NPPC continues to be Proposition 12.
“The focus needs to be about how we get Congress to address this challenge of states regulating outside their border,” he adds.
Humphreys notes Iowa Pork has a case that’s been relisted a few times and he is hopeful the issue is addressed soon.
“Whether it’s Congress doing what they’re asked to do by the Supreme Court and fixing it, or the Supreme Court [addressing it again], we will take whatever we can get as agriculture, not just the pork industry, for somebody to fix this catastrophic issue,” Humphreys says.
Even during tough times, the mood in the pork industry is positive and cautiously optimistic, he adds.
“Every year I’m fascinated by the advancements in the U.S. pork industry,” he says. “And for those outside of agriculture who don’t get to see these things every day, it’s one of the most technologically advanced industries out there.”
Listen to the whole conversation:
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