With corn and soybean prices hitting new all time highs and the chance that a summer drought could send them even higher, the pork industry is in trouble. Over the years the industry, with producer investment, has created a variety of sophisticated tools to get consumers to pick up more of the Other White Meat. But a group of enterprising British pork producers may have hit upon a simple, yet effective, way to get the pork message into the minds of consumers.

They combined that tongue and cheek British humor with an American country song and, well, the rest is history.

U.K. pork producers have been facing the same kind of economic problems we in the U.S. have. In addition to low prices, they are facing a flood of cheap imported pork from the EU. The British producers want their consumers to buy their locally grown and labeled pork products. So one night at a local pub over a pint of ale, well maybe several pints of ale, a group of producers changed the words to the 1968 Tammy Wynette hit “Stand By Your Man” to “Stand By Your Ham.” Then about 30 producers went into a studio and recorded the song, which is quickly becoming an international hit.

“Stand By Your Ham,” runs the chorus, “Sausages, pork and bacon/Help us stay in business/Because our pigs are worth it/Stand by your ham.”

Like U.S. producers, the Brits are losing money with each pig sold. In addition to the recording, a video has been produced and is now online at www.pigsareworthit.com

The website even features a counter that totals the amount of money the British pork industy has lost.

The song begins, “Right now it’s hard to make a living/ Rearing all your pigs for pork and ham. Supermarkets make all the money/ We don’t make any money/ And that’s quite hard to understand.”
The song goes on to encourage consumers to buy domestic pork, “So if you love your British breakfast/ The crackling on your Sunday roast/ Keep asking for local produce/ We work hard to bring it to you/ Look for our mark on pork and ham.”

Whether the song will be successful remains to be seen, but it might be fun to try something like it here. I have thought of several songs that could be adapted. For example, there is the song by Jim Croce “Swine in a Bottle”, or the Willie Nelson ballad “Two Chops Frying in the Pan.” For those of you who love a good polka, there is always “Roll Out the Barrow.” My personal favorite is a rewrite of the old Frankie Valle song “Walk like Man” to – you guessed it – “Taste Like A Ham.”

This may not pass the checkoff committee but, with many more months of lean times coming for U.S. producers, perhaps a little humor and creativity would be just what we and the consumer need.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.