Demand Mindset: Where Will Pork Production Go Now?
Many years ago, I noticed a definite shift in the reason or mindset of production from producers and their industry suppliers. Prior to 1985, I dubbed the only real motive in the country as the pig production mindset. It was characterized by small herds, few records except regulatory and tax receipts, and a knowledge of most of the animals as individuals. Animal husbandry was the primary human input.
Once the movement technologies arrived (all-in, all-out and eventually multi-site production) allowed the grouping of large numbers of animals in the same air space, investment was attracted and pigs were moved indoors, gestation barns were built, and the familiar record systems were born. Knowledge-based production began to displace primarily labor-based production. During this time, I noticed how the language of production shifted from pigs to meat production. Individual pigs were no longer the focus under this mindset. Pigs which did not fit in were often not treated but simply culled to build a fairly homogenous group. “Herd health” rather than “pig health” captured the veterinary consulting industry.
Benchmarking began with some gusto and the metrics shifted from total head sold to hundredweight (cwt.) per square foot of finishing space and/or tons or lb. of meat produced per sow per year (a favorite genetics company sales metric) and a thousand others. An industry consultant once said at a large producer meeting, “the business purpose of the farm is the least cost production of lean muscle tissue.”
Beginning in the mid-1990s, processors began to observe that if they provided export buyers with their unique in-country specs and cutouts, everything from the silver skin trim of loins and single-rib bellies to the Minolta score (a measure of meat color), the customer would pay more than he or she would for commodity meat.
The long and short of this phase was the rise in exports versus imports. In the mid-1990s, the U.S. industry became a net exporter of pork for the first time, and that has done nothing but skyrocket. We are approaching a full third of the value of U.S. hogs coming from carcasses purchased by foreign entities.
This focus on the customer versus selling cheap “meat,” created playbooks of each country’s carcass breakdown that supported the traditional cooking and food creations of the purchasing country population. This was the food production phase or mindset. At the farm level, producers began to get educated on medications allowed, growth promotants use, antibiotics (and their withdrawal times), special handling to avoid bruising, and even food safety practices like broken needle avoidance, consistent with food demand.
About 15 years ago, another focus began to arise in the broader world, but soon found its way into pork production. A new generation of buyers began to consider factors beyond the food itself they were “buying.” Suddenly questions like: Are workers paid a just wage? Are firms avoiding child labor? Are the animals provided the “five freedoms” which originated in the EU, as a guarantee of animal welfare? Were communities being negatively impacted by large firms who brought jobs but often did not buy local, etc.? This brought on third-party auditing and certification of processes (rather than the meat).
Because the demand began to evolve around non-meat factors, I call this the age of food attributes. Consumers became very interested in the attributes behind the meat, most of which cannot be observed by looking at a package. Is it organic? Did the workers receive a just wage? Is it traceable? Were the animals treated humanely?
It didn’t take long before enforcement of societal demands was pushed up chain to the processors and retailers who were often huge companies. Government and activists began realizing that convincing individual producers was much too large and uncertain a task to affect change at the pace it was desired, so compliance with certain practices became a condition of sale to the packing plant.
This led to the latest mindset of demand, food company attributes. In this current phase, some companies will not do business with others unless they have an acceptable ESG (Economic, Social and Governance) statement and policies, for instance. This has caused the big push to document sustainability by the National Pork Board and industry leaders.
One day we will take a deep breath and return a big portion of the mindset to the production of high quality, safe and exceedingly flavorful pork at a competitive price! Unfortunately, it could be a long wait.
Read More from DiPietre & Mulberry:
The Mythical Performance Curve for Net Sow Output
Reinvest in the Demand Attributes of Generation Z
Will Pork Weather the Recession Storm Ahead?
