To the U.S. pork industry, World Pork Expo is much more than simply a trade show and the opportunity to eat some delicious pork. “It’s a labor of love,” says Bryan Humphreys, chief executive officer for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), in a recent AgriTalk segment.
The yearly event wrapped up on Friday, June 9, however the conversations, insight and relationships are likely to extend much further.
“We’ve got pork producers from all over the country and actually all over the world, with folks in from foreign countries as well. They come and join us and they talk to the vendors, they talk to one another. They talked about how to improve their operations. They gave insights and new practices and behaviors. The symposiums that we have going on are phenomenal, great opportunity to learn to network here,” Humphrey adds. The event wouldn’t be possible without the support of sponsors, vendors and most importantly, the producers, he adds.
NPPC’s efforts to organize World Pork Expo are only a small portion of the organization’s work throughout the year.
Humphreys says, “NPPC is the global voice of the U.S. pork industry.” By talking to producers to gain insight and knowledge of what they want and need, NPPC finds a way to advocate for those needs. From foreign animal disease prevention and preparedness to the farm bill to markets exports, NPPC serves as a voice for U.S. pork producers, he explains.
The National Pork Board and Pork Checkoff also serve a valuable role in the pork industry, specifically in education, promotion and research, Humphreys says, while NPPC focuses on policy.
“We focus our effort in four policy areas: domestic policy in Washington D.C.; international policy with our trading partners and the World Trade Organization; corporate policy and recognizing that we have some major players out there that when they make a decision, we want to make sure they have all the facts and information so that as it impacts our producers, our producers are aware of it; and then of course, state policy,” Humphreys explains.
The state of California’s Proposition 12 law remains top of mind for NPPC, as Humphreys says the organization is hoping to see a smooth transition.
“This is going to be a tremendous impact on the state of California and the consumers there. And while we’re sad to see that and are disappointed with the court’s ruling, the reality is we owe it to our consumers—40 million folks in California—to ensure that they have the availability to buy fresh pork products if and however we can. And that means working with the [California Department of Food and Agriculture],” he adds. This includes working with the CDFA to clarify rules and help provide guidance to producers across the country, while also taking questions from the industry to CDFA about complying with Prop 12.
While Humphreys says NPPC is not “in love with the concept of a state like California regulating outside their boarders,” he says it’s still important to focus on the consumers of the state.
“Here’s my big fear. We have some fantastic customers in California that may or may not have voted for this or they may or may not understand the implications of it. That does not mean that we want them to be without pork chops on July 4. And that’s something we have to work with in the state of our industry today and the challenges that we face economically. We’ve got to make sure we can get product in there and keep it moving,” he adds.
Elections have consequences, Humphreys notes, and states around the country need to take a moment to realize what it is they are voting for.
Moving forward, Humphreys says NPPC supports the effort to override Prop 12 on the federal level.
“The Supreme Court was clear. They said this is a problem. They just said it wasn’t their problem,” he says. “But they said it was Congress’s to fix. We look to Congress to fix this.”
NPPC’s board met during World Pork Expo, and while the organization would like to see some technical changes, NPPC supports the Exposing Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, introduced by Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), which aims to restrict state and local governments from imposing certain standards or conditions on the production or manufacture of agricultural products sold or offered for sale in interstate commerce.
Additionally, Humphreys says the labor shortage is also another challenge he is looking to Congress to fix.
“We cannot find domestic labor to fill the needs of labor in the U.S. pork industry, let alone the rest of agriculture. We call on Congress to do something about that and the obvious fix would be year-round H2-A,”
he explains. “Agriculture is its own unique challenge, and rural America needs the attention, and we welcome other folks that want to come in here and work. We’d love to have them.”
