by staff
These are challenging times for pork producers and much of agriculture. National Pork Board President Jan Archer is striving to move pork during this very critical time. Archer is a pork producer from Goldsboro, North Carolina. She says the Pork Checkoff is partnering with major grocery retailers, such as Walmart, Costco and Kroeger. Food service is also a priority.
?This is such an important segment for us. Hardee?s and Carl?s Junior with new promotion of the pork chop and gravy biscuit has been a big hit. A good example is my alma mater Michigan State University focused a new Cuban sandwich at lunch and dinner at all the dining halls. Keeping pork top of mind via digital marketing, PR, and maximizing our multicultural marketing these are things going to go a long way moving this product.?
The U.S. pork industry is projected to set a record this year in the number of hogs taken to market and the amount of pork produced. Len Steiner, who is with the Steiner Consulting Group, expects pork production to reach 24.9 billion pounds this year. That total will be even larger in 2017 at 25.6 billion pounds. Steiner says packing capacity has not kept pace with pork production?tape
?Last year 2015, and we expect this year in 2016 pork production will exceed beef production. Supplies have expanded but processing capacity has lagged a bit behind. In the short term, especially this fall this has put downward pressure on hog prices. New plants are scheduled to open in the next 18 months which should alleviate some of the pressure and narrow the gap between prices of pork between wholesale and retail.?
The Pork Checkoff hosted a teleconference highlighting current production and consumer issues.
