200 participants representing 2.3 million pigs and 230,000 acres. That’s a quick look at the numbers of participants who have already completed an On-Farm Sustainability Report, says Bill Even, CEO of the National Pork Board.
In January, the National Pork Board unveiled the nation’s first pork sustainability report, highlighting the efforts of U.S. pork producers to continually make pork production more efficient.
“It was very well received,” Even says. The report was shared not only with producers, but also external audiences such as consumers, grocers, food service industry, interested third parties and more who are interested in understanding what the pork industry, he adds.
“It’s our chance to take credit for all the work we’ve done in the past 50 years,” Even explains. “This actually allow producers to really quantify and tell a story with factual information, rather than just sound bites.”
In addition to the great strides the industry is making around sustainability, Even says he’s excited about the momentum around Real Pork, the industry’s trust in image platform.
“It’s about real farmers on real farms with real pigs producing real pork,” Even says. “It’s our brand, it’s the flag we’re going to be flying on behalf of the industry. The producers have asked us, rather than spending a ton of time promoting the product, to spend promotional dollars on promoting the industry and putting that producer face forward.”
A Simplified Focus
As Even looks ahead to the second half of 2022, he says the board of directors has been focusing on three general buckets: sustainability, nutrition and ethics.
“Inside of sustainability, much of the energy revolves around the environment. How are we environmentally sustainable? What are we doing on the landscape?” Even says.
Regarding nutrition, the National Pork Board will be placing increased emphasis on the fact pork is an important part of a healthy, nutritious diet, he says.
“There are a lot of questions, particularly post-COVID, around how people and animals are being treated in the food system. We believe the ethical treatment of people and animals is important to a resilient food system, so the board has asked us to focus on that,” Even says.
But he points out that lying underneath all of this is a mission to protect the U.S. hog herd from foreign animal disease at a time when African swine fever (ASF) pressures are mounting.
Don’t Overlook Ground Pork
One of the big success stories of the past year has been the success that the Pork Checkoff has had “moving” ground pork, Even says.
“We worked with a leading Midwest retailer last year to do a pilot looking at if you provided consumers more ground pork with more choices and better labels, would they buy more of it?” Even says. “The answer was a resounding yes. I think that’s an example of today’s Checkoff taking science and business information that’s factually accurate and putting together a case to talk to people that are in the business.”
At the end of the day, Even says it comes back to their mission to do research, promotion and education.
“Our ability to actually help retailers understand the value proposition in stocking more ground pork and selling more ground pork – that’s one thing that allows our industry to continue to grow,” he says. “I think that’s a great unsung story of the Pork Checkoff.”
Request an On-Farm Sustainability Report here.
We will be uniting together June 6-12 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 #PORKWeek22 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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