National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) President Scott Hays, a fifth-generation pig farmer, manages about 5,200 sows and 34,000 nursery and finishing spaces on his farm in Monroe City, Mo. As he told AgriTalk’s host Chip Flory, he’s been training for this job for about 25 years now.
“I have a long history in the industry,” Hays said. “I know the issues. I know a lot of the players in the industry. I’ve worked my way up through local pork producer organizations to my state organization, and now to represent the 63,000 pork producers in the U.S.”
One of the most important goals he has as president is to help maintain diversity in the pork industry.
“I like to say if producers have choices, then consumers have choices. If you think about it, what really drives our industry is the ability to be the low-cost producer, or nearly the lowest-cost producer, in the world. That’s so fundamental to our industry,” Hays said. “If we have a choice in how we raise pigs and the type of pigs we raise, then we’ll continue to improve and get better at what we do.”
Farm Bill Priorities
Flory asked Hays to share the pork industry’s top asks in the farm bill.
“We typically don’t go in and ask for a whole bunch of stuff in the farm bill,” Hays answered. “We’re usually asking to be left alone, but we do have some asks this time. Most of that’s around foreign animal disease prevention and preparedness. This African swine fever (ASF) thing keeps getting scarier as it moves closer.”
NPPC supports the efforts of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, who do a wonderful job of keeping disease out of the country, Hays said. But they need more funding.
“On the preparedness side, we have to be ready. If we have ASF or foot-and-mouth disease, we have to get our arms around it quickly. We have to get it stamped out so we can get back to business,” Hays added.
Trade is also an important topic on the list this year, Hays noted. The U.S. pork industry exports about a fourth of its product.
“That makes the products Americans like to put on the grill lower cost if we can export those products that we don’t enjoy so much,” Hays explained. “Working on new trade deals is always the fun part. But there’s also a big role to play in maintaining existing trade deals.”
In addition, Flory brought up the challenge of labor and asked Hays how the pork industry is working to move the needle in this area.
“We’re trying to change the conversation and get lawmakers to realize that in the rural areas, it’s about labor and getting help out here. We have an aging population. Labor data tells us that where the pigs exist, unemployment is at 3% or less,” Hays said. “It’s really about getting help out here on the farm. It’s not a border issue. It’s not an immigration issue. It’s a labor issue.”
More from Farm Journal’s PORK:
Meet Scott Hays: National Pork Producers Council’s New President
