U.S. hog farmers are committed to protecting the country’s air, land and water for generations to come. A new campaign from the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), “Farming Today for Tomorrow,” launched on Wednesday showcasing U.S. pork producers’ long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship and further reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“For more than five decades, U.S. pork producers have embraced advancements that have allowed them to do more with less,” NPPC president Howard “AV” Roth, a hog farmer from Wauzeka, Wis., said in a release. “Hog farmers have an excellent story to tell and want to be part of ongoing discussions and solutions to address climate change.”
The “Farming Today for Tomorrow” campaign includes interviews with pork producers discussing their efforts to reduce their environmental footprint by using renewable natural gas to power facilities, hog manure to fertilize the land and precise nutrient farming to ensure fertilizer is only used where it’s needed among others.
“Conservation is important to the future of our family operation because we rely on the ground. They’re not making any new ground,” Duane Stateler, a hog farmer from McComb, Ohio, said in the release, featured in the campaign. “It’s invaluable to us that we protect and preserve what we already have.”
U.S. pork producers have reduced their emissions to 0.4% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to 2019 Environmental Protection Agency data.
“As a third-generation farmer, we’ve learned from our parents and grandparents that taking care of the land is important and that we have a responsibility to do so,” said Lori Stevermer, a hog farmer from Easton, Minn., also featured in the campaign. “I want clean air and clean water because I live on the farm and next to our pigs….I want my children to have the opportunity to farm just like I have.”
NPPC said hog farmers are committed to further reducing their environmental footprint, including support for voluntary, incentive-based tools to maximize the sequestration of carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.
Learn more at www.nppc.org/farmingtodayfortomorrow.
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