News
Financial bleeding in pork industry has subsided
Neil Dierks, CEO of the National Pork Producers Council said that pork producers in this country have seen the worst economic times in the industry for a variety of reasons over the course of the past two and a half years. “Although it isn’t wildly profitable” he told Brownfield during the recent National Pork Industry Forum, “At least the bleeding financially has subsided.”
Dierks said several of the issues addressed at this annual meeting are similar or even same as those addressed in past annual meetings and will be addressed at future gatherings. However, there is one new issue in the spotlight:
“The issue of animal health product availability has been debated on national television news but it is also being talked about in Congress. We have been working together with . . .other commodity and livestock organizations to make sure producers have access to using animal health products, because they are necessary to take care of the animals and actually it is an animal welfare issue for us because you want healthy animals.”
Enforcement issues in environmental realm, freedom to operate issues, and trade policy issues were all key topics of discussion. “At the same time, there is a lot of discussion about the We Care program. It is our commitment to society and our commitment to doing a good job on animal welfare, on animal health, and community involvement to show that we are responsible citizens.”
When asked about the mood of producers at National Pork Industry Forum, Dierks replied, “Generally, people are optimistic. Money is not falling from the sky. But on the other hand we have made it through these challenges as it is related to the economy, as related to production, as related to H1N1, and the misuse of the name with H1N1. . . producers see some opportunity to look at our future prices. There are some opportunities ahead of us. The reality is the US most competitive county in the world to produce pork. The USDA projects an 8 percent increase in our exports versus a year ago. So people are cautiously optimistic.”
Add Comment