Environmental concerns are nothing new for us to hear about. The environment?s relationship to agriculture has become quite a hot-button topic as of late. Many companies looking to promote sustainable products that are produced with environmental considerations are leading producers to tell their story. With the incoming administration campaigning on environmental issues, many Ag groups are mobilizing their efforts to better tell their stories to the public. The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) has launched their ?Farming Today for Tomorrow? initiative that talks about the work producers around the country are doing to be responsible stewards of the environment.
Audio: Full Interview with Duane Stateler of the NPPC
Duane Stateler is an NPPC Board Member and a hog farmer from Ohio. He says that hog producers have been sustainable in their operations long before ?sustainable? was a buzzword. However, it is only recently that farmers have gotten around to telling their stories.
One of the messages that ?Farming Today for Tomorrow? is getting out, is how producers have decreased their footprint by using 25% less water and seven percent less energy to run their operations.
Manure disposal has also become an issue of debate in the past few years. Stateler talks about how his operation has been used as a demonstration farm to show how they are being responsible with the disposal of manure and how they have cleared up misconceptions, even among environmental activists who had different perceptions of hog operations.
Stateler adds that taking care of the land and water is nothing new. While the methods have changed, the lesson has been passed down for generations, and it is important that the message keeps getting passed down for generations to come.
You can learn more about the ?Farming Today for Tomorrow? campaign on the NPPC website. There are multiple videos you can watch and share to help tell the story about hog farmers aren?t just now getting on board with environmental awareness, they have been refining their responsibility for years.
