Photos essay by Sydnee Summers, Farm Journal intern
Walking the aisles of the World Pork Expo offers opportunities to capture the “word on the street” from attendees. This family-friendly event brings out pork fans of all ages. Thousands of U.S. and global pork producers, industry professionals and industry experts attend each year. Here’s what a few of them shared.
Katie Terrell, with United Animal Health, was joined by her colleagues. They picked up coffee from Rural Revival, which was a coffee shop sponsored by United Animal Health on Thursday. “I am most excited to see other team members, other people in the industry, and just get to connect and enjoy time together,” she said.
Wally and Jack were attending World Pork Expo with their dad. Wally said he was most excited to sign up for things and get free stuff. Jack agreed. Their dad was prepared to have a full load of stuff to take home with them.
Anika Hansen (far right), a recent graduate from Kansas State, is the Youth Swine Programs and Outreach Intern. She focuses on engaging youth in animal health, career exploration and teaching how to advocate for the industry. Hansen said her favorite breed of pig is Duroc. Samantha Moser, (second from right) is spending her summer as the Public Relations intern and develops content for farmers and consumers.
Elyse (bottom left) says she loves getting free stuff here.
“We enjoy a lot of World Pork Expo,” Pam Janssen said. “The companies have new ideas, new brands and new items. We also need to see vendors that we use for repairs. We look at the genetics to see if there’s anything better than what we have. A big thing for us is that we always come out here and see all of our neighbors that we don’t have time to see at home. We get to catch up with them on what they are doing at home and what we are doing, and all of that. So it is just a good day to spend promoting our industry and being able to be a part of it.”
“My name is Hadley and my title is Little Miss United States Agriculture,” she said. “My favorite part is meeting new people every day when I am over here.”
Iowa State students visit and catch up. Macy Moore, (second from left) is a summer intern with Elanco. “I am enjoying networking and visiting with other companies,” she said.
We will be uniting together June 3-8 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 #PORKWeek 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.
