by Ken Root and Whitney Newman
The World Pork Expo is a long time running event in Des Moines. The National Pork Board spokesperson Cindy Cunningham, is inviting producers to come to the Iowa State Fairgrounds to visit the Pork Checkoff hospitality tent June 8-10th. Cunningham says “Pork expo is such a great opportunity for all pork producers, and those who are interested in production of pigs. They get to come out to see what the latest technology is, understand what’s happening in the industry and do some networking with other vendors and producers and those who serve the pork industry. Everyone is welcome to attend the event. Things that are important to the industry will be discussed.
During the noon hour they will have the business luncheon on Wednesday and Thursday. Owen Taylor and Steve Meyer will be presenting markets and weather, two things that are very critical to pork producers. This is a great time to get a free lunch. Breakfast will be served in the tent each day. Cunningham explains that ?It’s a great opportunity to sit down, spend some time with other producers from around the world, and learn about production in their area.”
The Pork Checkoff will also have a display in the World Trade Pork Expo show. Producers can meet with checkoff staff to learn about the new checkoff resources. They will be talking about things like the crisis texting alert service, the launch of the revision for Pork Quality Assurance 3.0, antibiotics, and what producers need to know on their farm. Cunningham exclaims ?It’s really a great chance to spend some time to find out what the Checkoff is working on, and ask questions that everyone has about the technology, research, and information that they can take home and put it into practice on their farms!?
In addition, the pork academy will be held in the Varied Industries Building at the state fairgrounds during the World Pork Expo. For more information producers can contact the Pork Checkoff Service Center, pork.org, or call 800-456-PORK.
A hog industry update from Dr. Ron Plain from the University of Missouri on last weeks market shares that prices are basically a $1.00 or so higher this week. Plant delivered hogs are around $75.00 per hundred weight, and $49.00 for live hog prices.
The steady uptrend in hog prices may be about to slow down. For the month of April, the average retail pork prices were $3.79.9 per pound, up 3.9 cents from the month before, and up 0.03 cents compared to last April.
