Andy Curliss recently joined the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) as Vice President of Strategic Engagement after being in a role for the past three years that was outside the industry. We asked him to offer this perspective as he begins in this position.
By Andy Curliss, NPPC
The past few years, for me, have been deep into state and federal affairs – as well as commercial sector engagements – at SAS Institute, a large data and analytics software and services firm.
In many ways, though, I never really left the pork industry. Instead, I was engaged and involved differently, including not just with commercial sector of food and commodity production but also with the USDA, the Food and Drug Administration and land-grant universities.
But I’m glad to be back “home” more fully in agriculture. It has been a real pleasure to reconnect with the superb team at NPPC and the industry to catch up with old friends, meet new ones and dive back in, including at World Pork Expo and in meetings across the country.
I can see that many of the issues we’ve faced over the past decade remain the same – but I will say we must also continue to be open to new ideas and new approaches to addressing them. Much good work is under way here – with more to come.
California Proposition 12, for instance, continues to impact prices and food security significantly. It is good to see emerging consensus that acknowledges how wrong it is for farmers in Iowa or Indiana, in Ohio or Oklahoma, to be told how they can farm and how they can care for their livestock by an activist-driven, onerous regulatory measure placed on a ballot in California. It’s hard to imagine that the U.S. Congress could allow this to continue – particularly when it involves the production of food – and the farm bill is one place to make that fix.
It’s easy to focus on the problems of the day, such as the farm bill. But Bryan Humphreys, our CEO, has asked me to look at how we can engage strategically on broader issues as well.
During my time at SAS, I often found myself in situations where I expected agriculture to have a significant presence, only to find otherwise. That gap is a tremendous opportunity for us to engage more broadly. I believe we are at a moment where we can do that and make a difference.
Which is to say that our leadership understands it is important that NPPC continues to develop insights into industry threats and opportunities, based on good data, intelligence and insights – and that we work collaboratively to ensure our industry is profitable and able to serve a growing and diverse population here and abroad. I’m excited to play my part.
Read our last Q&A with Curliss here.
Read More:
Andy Curliss Joins Staff of National Pork Producers Council
Don’t Lose Sight of the Truth, Curliss Encourages Pork Industry
