CLIVE, Iowa — Amid the livestock exhibits, workshops and live music, the hot-button topics of labor, trade policy and production improvement were on the minds of U.S. and international producers at the 2017 World Pork Expo, June 7-9 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

 

“There is a need for skilled labor in agriculture,” said Ron Birkenholz, communications director at the Iowa Pork Producers Assoc. (IPPA) in Clive. “As the pork industry grows, pig farmers are going to need people who are willing and able to responsibly care for pigs.”

Apart from the workshops, he said one of many hot-button topics U.S. and international producers discussed was foreign trade, which he added is “critical to the pork industry, where exports account for about a quarter of all production and add significantly to the price farmers receive for each hog sold.

“Maintaining and expanding trade is key to the industry’s future success.”

In addition, Birkenholz said continuous

improvement in all areas of production remains a focus of pork producers who attended the Expo.

“Farmers are always looking at new research, technology advances and innovations,” he noted.

Jim Long, president and CEO of Canada’s Genesus Genetics in Oakville, Manitoba, said the mood of producers at the Expo seemed optimistic. “Profits are good, currently,” he said. “(I’m) not sure it would have been as optimistic if the World Pork Expo had been held in April, when hogs and futures were $30 per head lower.”

He said producers also talked about sow herd expansion, but “how much, we are not sure … One of the big factors is the ongoing difficulty to get new sow units permitted for construction and usage. We believe this is a big factor slowing expansion.

He said the really busy equipment companies at the Expo were those selling for loose sow housing. “The push in new barns and renovations to this type of production was very evident,” he said. “A lot of new foreign equipment companies showed up, with most from China.

Long said evidence of consolidation was everywhere at the Expo. “Fewer feed companies, genetic suppliers, builders, et cetera; the reality is fewer suppliers for fewer producers.”

In swine genetics, he said it was also evident the U.S. industry is moving more to Duroc sires.

“The ability for a Duroc to grow and its offspring to live is driving demand. Couple that with better-tasting pork and you have a growing market. At Genesus, we are happy this is happening.

“Genesus has the largest registered purebred population of Durocs in the world,” he added.

“In North America, 1,600 sows; in Asia and Europe, 2,100 sows, with 3,700 sows total – better growth, better livability, better cost of gain, better-tasting pork.”

Long said there was discussion that meatpackers had pulled hogs ahead. “Packers’ margins have been good, if not excellent. This has led to aggressive hog procurement. If this is correct, hog prices can have quite a surge in the coming weeks (by late June) as heat cuts weight and seasonal supply declines.

“There was talk of 90-cent lean hogs,” he added. “We expect we will see that price at some point. The (expectation) of the new packing plants coming on stream later this summer adds another dimension that enhances opportunities.”

With the consumer market for pork and other protein sources changing rapidly, the pork checkoff, headquartered at the National Pork Board (NPB) in Des Moines, is putting the finishing touches on a plan to capitalize on those changes by repositioning pork marketing.

Terry O’Neel, president of the NPB and a Friend, Neb., pork producer, told an audience at the Expo,

“The pork checkoff has embarked on a journey to determine how best to market pork today. The direction may be drastically different than we’ve seen in the last quarter-century.”

Moreover, Birkenholz said the NPB’s development of a Secure Pork Supply plan, along with the USDA, “will get producers back to normal operations much faster and help minimize business disruption in the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak.

 

“Producers are excited about the new harvest facilities and the increased competition these will mean,” he said. “Continued low-input costs have increased profits and domestic demand for pork is very strong.”

Bill Even, NPB CEO, said the big changes that require a new marketing plan are driven by what he called “the three M’s:” Millennials, mobile and multicultural. O’Neel expects the new marketing strategy will be deployed in early 2018.

Sponsored by the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) in Des Moines, the Expo features the world’s largest pork-specific trade show, along with educational seminars, youth and open swine shows, market outlook sessions, live music – and grilled pork.

Organizers estimate about 20,000 producers and pork professionals, including more than 1,000 international guests, visited this year’s Expo.

In addition, nearly 450 companies from North America, Asia and Europe displayed the latest products, services and technologies for pork businesses on more than 320,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibit space.