The COVID-19 pandemic has taught the pork industry many lessons that National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) president-elect Jen Sorenson believes will help pork producers mitigate future challenges.
“We’ve learned that worker safety and keeping employees safe in the packing plant indeed was the top priority, which is why we got so backed up on our farms,” Sorenson told AgriTalk’s Chip Flory during the Farmer Forum on Wednesday. “We were really struggling at first to figure out social distancing and get PPE in our hands.”
Fortunately, many of those concerns have smoothed themselves out, she noted. Watching the industry come together to solve challenges like slowing down growth of market hogs was a silver lining during an unbelievably challenging time.
“I think the other thing is so many of the mitigation strategies that we put into place to slow down the growth of our hogs worked,” said Sorenson, who also serves as communications director at Iowa Select Farms. “Nutritionists really delivered in helping us slow down the growth and manage that stocking density, which prevented a lot of pigs from having to be euthanized.”
Mike Berdo, a pork producer in Washington, Iowa, told Flory it hasn’t been a problem to get loads of market hogs into the packing plants lately, a great improvement from March and April when the industry was scrambling.
Since those challenging days last spring, Sorenson said pork producers have given away over 16 million pounds of pork in their communities.
“We were doing anything we could last spring to find a home for that meat when we were backed up due to the packing capacity crunch,” Sorenson said. “A lot of donating happened and that was another silver lining, as well. We were able to help families in need.”
Promoting pork is a year-round priority for pork producers around the country. But there’s no question, the NPPC’s “Give-a-Ham” campaign is Sorenson’s favorite.
“This is the time of year that we’re giving all the time,” Sorenson. “But let’s celebrate it and talk about it. Let’s activate that camaraderie amongst pork producers and challenge each other and open our hearts.”
The campaign encourages people in the pork industry to give a ham to their local food pantries, community shelves, organizations or families in need, and then talk about it.
“This is one thing our industry doesn’t do so well,” Sorenson said. “Take that picture. Post it up on social media with #giveaham and talk about why you care.”
Berdo is one of many from his county who have helped find ways to give away pork to his local community.
“Especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a big need,” Berdo said. “It’s a great deal for everyone. Take that picture and promote it.”
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