5 Ways to Attract Youth to the Pork Industry
One of the greatest privileges of my career with the National Swine Registry was pointing young people to futures in agriculture through the development of the National Junior Swine Association (NJSA). I was hopeful I’d continue to find ways throughout my life to do that. Before long, I was advising a student agricultural communications club at the University of Illinois. And nearly five years ago, I started working for Farm Journal’s PORK.
I’ll never forget my first day on the job as the Farm Journal’s PORK editor. I sat in the audience at the Leman Swine Conference and listened to three former NJSA members discuss research, management and health. It nearly brought me to tears.
They are just three reasons why I invested nearly 10 years into helping build NJSA. Don’t get me wrong – I love a good pig show. But at the end of the day, knowing our future is in good hands because of these great young minds who are passionate about pigs, is way more important.
Why did they choose the swine industry instead of using their brilliant minds somewhere else? I think it probably starts with people they met, the network they developed and the opportunity they had to tie a career to an industry they benefited from as a kid.
I often get asked how we can attract the next generation of young people into pork industry careers. Personally, I think it starts with you. It starts with hog producers being excited about their jobs and inviting young people into their barns to learn more about what they do. It’s about nutritionists sharing openly about the challenges and the opportunities in swine nutrition and inviting young people to ask questions. It’s about veterinarians picking up a kid (like the childhood version of Dr. John Waddell) and showing them what a veterinarian really does.
It's about recognizing your purpose in the swine industry and finding a way to pass the baton onto someone else. If we aren’t enthusiastic about what we do, why should anyone else want to follow in our footsteps?
I decided to reach out to five young leaders in the NJSA and Team Purebred youth swine organizations to ask them what they believe would get more youth interested in pork industry careers. Here’s advice from the audience everyone wants to bring in.
Bring Awareness to the Diversity of Pork Careers at a Young Age
“The best way to get more youth interested in pork industry careers is to bring awareness to them. It wasn’t until the 2023 NJSA Youth Leadership Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, that I became aware of the outstanding number of possibilities in the pork industry. Meeting with employees from all sources of the pork industry opened my eyes to the possibilities and the excitement that comes with them. I am an education major, so I will likely not have a career in the pork industry. However, it is very possible that if I would have known the opportunities sooner, my choice would have been different. Opportunities to meet with real people and hear their path and experiences is how I believe we can get more youth interested in the pork industry.” -Isabelle Doherty, sophomore at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater
Be Intentional and Seek the Next Generation
“The best way to get people more interested in pork industry careers is to keep informing FFA and 4-H members, and kids in the livestock industry about the opportunities the pork industry can bring and the places it can take them in the future. The easiest way to get this information out could be through advertising, using social media, presenting at FFA conventions, or participating in career shows focused on agriculture.” -Julia Scarborough, senior at California State University, Chico
Remind Students You Don’t Have to Work in a Barn, But You Can
“I think more youth would be interested in careers within pork if they realized what all goes into pork production. I also think if they understood how advanced we have become, that would be a drawing factor. It would help if youth could understand that to be involved in the pork industry, it doesn’t mean that you have to be on a farm every day working with pigs. But if you want to, that’s a possibility. I think it would help if they understood the diversity available within the pork industry. For example, my internship this summer is with the swine health team at National Pork Board. I spend most of my days attending meetings and working in an office. There are jobs from here all the way to feeding pigs, that is what made me interested!” -Brody Nemecek, senior at Kansas State University
Start Early in the Classroom
“Start by going into the classrooms giving presentations. If I were to be completely honest, I was never taught about the different jobs within the port industry before coming to college and now I have seen the multiple career paths within the industry.” -Jackie Wible, senior at Iowa State University
Remind Kids They Don’t Have to Grow Up on a Farm
“Not many people know, but pork provides us with a lot of benefits besides just being good for us. Promoting animal care through 4-H and FFA is a big thing in my life, and I always try to encourage people to look at new opportunities. Even if they didn’t grow up around it, it doesn’t mean they won’t be good at it.” -Hailee Dannenberg, sophomore at Joliet Junior College
We will be uniting together June 5-11 for PORK Week across all of our Farm Journal platforms to elevate the important role the pork industry plays in feeding the world. Share your stories and post photos on social media using #PORKWeek23 to help us honor the pork industry. From “AgDay TV” to “AgriTalk” to “U.S. Farm Report” to PorkBusiness.com and everything in between, tune in and join us as we acknowledge the most noble profession there is: feeding people.
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