What’s next for the purebred swine industry? That’s a good question and one that a passionate group of people are exploring and asking of themselves right now.
“The purebred side of the business is constantly changing,” says Clay Zwilling, CEO of the National Swine Registry. “It’s a dynamic industry. I think we truly are in a place of transition. We always talk about the generational gap. But the industry is so fast paced that even in my short tenure of being gone, it changed so much.”
After leading the National Swine Registry for four years, Zwilling decided to make a career change for his family. But his passion for the purebred swine industry drew him back in 2024.
“A lot of what we’re focused on now as an organization is creating sustainability from a breeder base and from a generational knowledge standpoint,” he explains. “We are focusing on educational activities like our Young Breeder Forum held before NSR’s Draft Sale and partnering with National Pork Board and showpig.com to create the National Show Pig Summit to bring people together and have critical discussions.”
Of course, he says NSR never wants to lose sight of the bigger industry as well. From participating in the U.S. Swine Health Improvement Plan to collaborating on industry biosecurity efforts to working with National Pork Board, Zwilling says it’s critical to the future of the purebred industry to be actively engaged strategic partners in these efforts.
Are Youth Swine Shows Shrinking?
Although there have been many exciting conversations around digital pedigree systems and branded pork programs, Zwilling says one of the big topics of conversations NSR is having right now is around talent build in the industry and developing young people.
“We get so focused at the shows on the pig. Is this pig what we expect in terms of phenotypic quality? What did this judge say about my pig? How am I making breeding decisions that are important to the business?” Zwilling says. “But at the end of the day, what are we actually trying to do with these pigs as a product? To me, beyond the pig ultimately ending up in the food chain, we have to consider what we are trying to teach young people.”
He estimates a third of the exhibitors at the National Junior Summer Spectacular held in Louisville, Ky., this summer were new families. With the significant rise in the price of the pig project in the last few years, he says that is pretty incredible.
“We know with inflation, the cost of travel, feed, all those things have gone up,” Zwilling says. “I think that’s why my perspective has changed a lot in focusing on how many families are engaged (and how many are new) versus how many pigs are actually at the show.”
He believes pig numbers will likely level out and maybe even retract some in terms of actual numbers exhibited at shows. That’s why he is focused on the exhibitors.
“If the exhibitor number continues to grow and new families come in, that tells me we’re in a healthy place in our business,” he says.
But he admits he’s concerned about county and state fair participation. Zwilling says national shows like the ones offered by the National Junior Swine Association and Team Purebred, have “super fans” who are highly committed to engagement.
“Candidly, if we look at the average Midwest county fair, livestock numbers as a whole, but particularly in the pig barn, are on the decline,” he adds. “I think a lot of it does have to do with the economic factor of it and we have a lot of discussions in the boardroom on bringing in new participation.”
Show pigs are the most accessible for young families in his opinion. That’s why he is driven to focus on engaging new exhibitors and new families to try out the show pig project.
“The cycle of which we sell pigs because of the maturity of the pigs we show today has certainly changed,” he says. “I think we need to start having the discussion of merchandising pigs to specific endpoints in specific places.”
An Attention Competition
In a time where everyone’s competing for time, talent and resources, providing the best experience possible isn’t just important, it’s crucial, Zwilling says.
“Without our members, we’re not here,” he says. “A lot of people may not know this, but at heart, I am a people pleaser. I want everyone to be happy and have a positive experience. I’ve realized I can’t do that all the time because it’s not feasible or realistic. But I do want to identify things that don’t go well and figure out how to make them better. I want people to feel heard.”
Perhaps even more important to Zwilling is to remember that NSR is reaching consumers.
“We’re in the animal protein space, and regardless of whether you have one sow or 100,000+ sows, that’s where pigs are ultimately going to end up,” he says. “We were able to partner with National Pork Board to bring a cooking competition for kids to the National Junior Summer Spectacular. Frankly, with the new consumer facing campaign, Taste What Pork Can Do, it just aligned really well for us to try out this contest this year.”
Teams of young chefs participated in a cooking demonstration by a chef, learning about how to best prepare pork.
“The feedback I got from participants was, 1) we had a ton of fun and 2) it was really interesting to hear the chef talk about the preparation of pork and the different philosophies around cooking pork,” Zwilling says. “Our goal should always be to drive consumer demand and interest in eating pork. If that contest provides a little context around that and a new appreciation for eating pork, it’s worth it for us to invest in doing.”
It’s hard, but he says we have to accept the reality that the majority of our talent in the swine industry doesn’t come from a traditional farm background anymore.
“Projects like this create that passion, create that knowledge, and then open the gateway to ultimately go on and pursue a career in the pork industry,” Zwilling says. “It excites me to know we have a group of young people who are passionate about taking care of pigs and being involved in the pig business.”
Listen to The PORK Podcast to listen to the full conversation on the future of the purebred swine industry and the most valuable leadership lesson Zwilling has learned over the years. Watch this episode on YouTube or listen anywhere podcasts are found.
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