News from the National Pork Board (Sep ’19)
David Newman, a pork producer from Arkansas, was elected president of the National Pork Board at the organization’s June board meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. The National Pork Board’s 15 producer-directors represent America’s pig farmers.
“The US pork industry is facing a time of unprecedented change and I look forward to serving America’s 60,000 pig farmers in the year ahead,” Newman said. “From preparing the global food industry for the threats facing us from foreign animal disease, implementing our Secure Pork Supply plan, and driving home our messages of what sustainable pig production looks like in the United States and abroad, I cannot wait to lead the Pork Checkoff in delivering value to our producers.”
Newman is in his second term as a board member and owns and operates a farrow-to-finish Berkshire farm in Myrtle, Missouri that markets pork directly to consumers throughout the United States. Serving with Newman on Pork Checkoff’s executive officer team are Vice-president Mike Skahill from Williamsburg, Virginia; Treasurer Gene Noem from Ames, Iowa; and Immediate Past President Steve Rommereim from Alcester, South Dakota.
Registration open for second Pig Welfare Symposium
The National Pork Board has announced that its second Pig Welfare Symposium will take place November 13-14 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The biennial forum, which debuted in 2017, is designed to help improve the well-being of pigs by disseminating recent research findings and recommendations, raising awareness of current and emerging issues, and identifying potential solutions.
“We are pleased to be building on the initial success of the 2017 symposium,” said Sara Crawford, assistant vice president of animal welfare for the Pork Checkoff. “We will continue to make the sharing of ideas and information about animal well-being the focus of this meeting. We expect and encourage producers, veterinarians, academia, packers and processors, and allied industry partners to attend.”
The symposium will provide presentations from experts on past, current, and future animal welfare issues, including looking at the evolution of animal welfare in the supply chain and understanding consumer choices. The speakers will offer their perspectives on how the pork industry can continue to evolve to meet the needs of animals, producers, and consumers.
For more information or to register, visit www.pork.org/pws or contact Dr Sara Crawford at SCrawford@pork.org or at 515-223-2790.
Checkoff interns win national Undergraduate Research Competition
Two past interns in the Pork Checkoff’s Science and Technology department have won awards at the American Society of Animal Science 2019 Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, held in July. Olivia Harrison and Jenna Chance won second and third place respectively in the Undergraduate Research Competition. Each student conducted a research project and presented a poster of their findings in a competition against other students from across the country. The scientific meeting is the largest within the animal science discipline and had more than 1500 registrants. Student travel was sponsored by the Dr Mark and Kim Young Undergraduate Research Fund in Animal Science. Harrison, a senior from Saybrook, Illinois, presented her research, “Effects of conditioning temperature and pellet diameter on nursery pig growth performance.” Her research was sponsored by the National Pork Board’s Swine Research and Education Experience. After graduating in May 2020, Harrison plans to attend graduate school in feed safety at Kansas State University. In third place was Chance, a senior from Lebanon, Indiana, with her poster, “Evaluation of increasing oat groats in nursery pig diets.” Her research was also sponsored by the National Pork Board’s Swine Research and Education Experience. After graduating in December 2019, Chance plans to attend graduate school in swine nutrition at Kansas State University.
For more information, contact Chris Hostetler at CHostetler@pork.org or 515-223-2606.