Don’t Be Afraid to Speak Up About Pork’s Advantage

It’s been a great week to talk about the good that the pork industry is doing, National Pork Producers Council president Lori Stevermer, said during a media conference this week. The truth is, she said, the pork industry needs to share the good news more, especially around the topic of sustainability.

“When you look at the pork industry’s contribution to greenhouse gases, it’s at 0.4% - less than 1%. Agriculture itself is less than 10%,” explained Stevermer, a pork producer from Minnesota. “We're doing a good job, and sometimes we don't say that enough. We let other companies talk about what they're doing. We forget that we are sustainable, both in our practices and in our generational businesses.”

Duane Stateler, a fifth-generation pork producer from Ohio and NPPC president-elect, agrees. After all, he said, pork producers and farmers in general were the first environmentalists.

“I remember talking to my grandfather when I was a kid, and he would tell me that they're not making any more ground. So, we needed to preserve what we had and what we're farming today. We have done that,” Stateler said. 

From water quality to air quality, and from soil conservation to wildlife habitat, producers care about sustainability and leaving behind a legacy for our next generations, he added.

“I take a lot of pride that we have the seventh generation working on the farm today. We must protect that for future generations to come,” Stateler said. “It is a complete circle. We don't rely on commercial fertilizers. We take the manure that we have produced from our hog buildings, and we apply that to land in a way that protects the water quality and the soil health. Then we use that to produce grain to feed the pigs so we can provide good protein to everyone across the U.S.”

One tool that helps producers better share their sustainability story is the Pork Cares Report that many producers are completing where a third party verifies their production practices to show if and how they are reducing their carbon footprint. 

“For those of us utilizing those reports, we need to make sure we're sharing that information with others,” Stervermer said. “Then, we need to encourage the rest of the industry to undertake those Pork Cares Reports because it is powerful information. We need to remind our legislators that we don't need more regulations. All these excess regulations are hurting farms and businesses. We need to make sure they know the good we are doing.”

The reports allow producers to recognize opportunities for improvement for the good of their operation and the environment.

“Every day we get up, we shoot to get better and be more efficient,” said Rob Brenneman, an Iowa pork producer and NPPC vice president. “We want to do more with less every day to ensure food security for the consumer and a quality product that can’t be beat.”