7 WAYS TO INCREASE PORK DEMAND

Cash hog prices this winter are as low as they’ve been in years, with losses for producers in the first quarter of 2017 of around $27 per head, says Chris Hurt, ag economist, Purdue University. More packer capacity, growing exports, and falling retail prices will help hog prices later this year, but for now, the industry needs to move a lot of pork.

“This is a challenging time for agriculture and especially for our producers,” says Jan Archer, National Pork Board (NPB) president and a pork producer from Goldsboro, North Carolina. “Our goals are to help producers during this time and to provide consumers with a great value and quality pork.”

Archer shared a few things the NPB, using Pork Checkoff funds, is doing to keep pork moving through the retail chain.

1. PARTNERING WITH GROCERY RETAILERS.

The NPB is working with the top 10 U.S. grocery retailers, including Walmart, Costco, and Kroger. Promotions include on-pack recipe labels, digital marketing, email blasts, in-store pork promotions and product demos, instant rebate coupons on featured pork cuts, and radio and digital ads.

2. FOCUSING ON FOODSERVICE.

NPB is working with high-volume restaurants to present a clear message around the opportunity pork presents through versatility, profitability, availability, and customer appeal. To reach the industry, at large, the foodservice team will launch a print and digital brand campaign with custom ads from February through May 2017.

3. USING MARKETING AND PR.

The Make It A Moment campaign encourages consumers to make every moment – big or small – one worth celebrating. “Using social media, we connect social media users with great-tasting pork recipes to match their meal plans,” says Archer. When people visit the Pork Be Inspired Facebook page, they can open Facebook Messenger to help find the right recipe.

4. MAXIMIZING MULTICULTURAL MARKETING.

The Grill For It and Make It A Moment campaigns both feature a Spanish-language site, including one-minute videos to help consumers become more comfortable with cooking pork. Pulled pork in tamales and sandwiches has helped grow consumption.

5. INSPIRING NEW TRENDS.

To help bolster pork sales, the Pork Checkoff is working with retailers to encourage consumers to broaden their options. New ham flavors include salted caramel. Along with ham, NPB is promoting pork roast as a special -occasion meal. A pork loin roast can be ready in an hour. 

6. PROMOTING U.S. PORK EXPORTS.

The high value of the U.S. dollar and competition from other countries in key export markets have curbed U.S. pork export demand.

“About 25% of U.S. pork production goes overseas, and we need to keep moving product to keep producers profitable,” says Archer.

Mexico, China, Japan, Korea, and Canada are pork’s big five buyers. The Pork Checkoff, through the U.S. Meat Export Federation, continues to invest in pork promotions overseas, and they are making progress, says Archer.

7. REACHING ONLINE CONSUMERS.

As consumers search for recipes online for meal planning, the Pork Checkoff’s ads remind them about pork’s great taste and value, says Archer. NPB is also working directly with food bloggers on PorkBeInspired.com.

“Together, we can get through this time,” says Archer. “Pork producers are resilient. We’ve faced challenges before. We want to help our producers in any way we can.” 

MICHIGAN FARMER USES TRIMBLE AG SOFTWARE TO FINE-TUNE HIS FARMING OPERATION

When corn was $7, Michigan farmer Ed Groholski could do no wrong.

“Now I’m back to the times I grew up in,” says the third-generation farmer. “It’s the pennies that keep me in business – not the dollars.”

Tracking every cent that flows in and out of his business means Groholski has to employ a farm-management system that will allow him to easily and efficiently see where those pennies will matter most. Two ways he’s achieving that goal are by leveraging technology he invested in years ago and taking advantage of his Trimble representative’s technical expertise.

“When I met Ed, he had done his research on how he wanted to expand his use of technology, and I was looking for someone who had a basic understanding of what he wanted to accomplish,” says Jeff Moore, Farm Depot. “I was sometimes playing catch-up to him when it came to utilizing a product or a service to accomplish specific tasks he had in mind.” 

EARLY ADOPTER

Groholski, who grows corn, soybeans, and wheat, and feeds out 250 head of cattle each year, has been using Farm Works software since he began farming over two decades ago. 

“In the early 1990s, some companies had their own spin on what farmers needed to be better managers,” he recalls. “I was part of a farmer user group who looked at several different programs. Farm Works offered a complete package I could purchase in modules for crops, livestock, accounting, etc.”

When Connected Farm came out, Groholski was one of the first to spend money on the software because he kept running into problems with data – either the USB didn’t make it back to the office or it was lost entirely. So, the gaps in information were too wide to ignore. 

“You can imagine the variances I saw. Connected Farm eliminated the middleman and gave me the advantage of a much easier way to return the data back to the main frame,” he says. 

“Ed was an early adopter of precision technology and has remained in the top 5% of early adopters in my customer base,” says Moore.

FIXED ON FEATURES

As margins tightened, Groholski dug deeper into the software to fine-tune his operation.

“For example, I was able to draw a better boundary for a management zone by noticing the speed of a tractor pulling a strip-till machine,” says Groholski. “All of a sudden, it dropped a half mile per hour. When I pulled the field up, it was going through a different soil type, which caused the change.”

By changing the legend, the software also allows him to break down yield maps and to look for variations. 

“If I want to look at something like speed vs. yield because I have a different operator in the combine, Farm Works lets me do that. That operator may be doing a great job because he’s covering a lot of acres. But is he costing me in yield because he’s moving through a field too fast?” he asks. 

Groholski is also able to manage from afar. “I can track a driver from my tablet or laptop and know that in three hours he will be done in a field or that in two hours he will need to refill,” he says. “I am able to multitask at that point.”

If he is using the harvest function with yield monitoring and mapping, he can see when 50% of the field is harvested and how much grain it has produced. “Based on that information, I know if I’m going to need more bin space or if I should sell some grain,” he says.

Data also provides an audit trail. “If there is a question on the amount of fertilizer or pesticide I used in an area, I can generate a report to show where and when a product was applied,” notes Groholski.

Attention to detail will sustain him through tight times. “I’m trying to grow a crop in as economically and environmentally friendly way as possible – yet, still produce a quality product for the marketplace,” he says. “Trimble Ag Software is verifying that the practices I employ are providing an economic return.”

MYTHS ABOUT TICKS

A TICK’S GOAL IS TO REACH YOUR HEAD, BUT IT’S A JOURNEY THAT BEGINS AT YOUR FEET.

A walk through the woods or even playing in the yard could expose you to ticks. They can be harmful, so it’s important to understand the facts – and the misconceptions about them – in order to protect yourself.    

Michael Dryden is a distinguished professor of veterinary parasitology at Kansas State University and one of the world’s leading experts on ticks. He says the most common myth is that they fall onto our heads out of trees. In reality, ticks hang out in grasses and low shrubs. When you walk by, they ambush you and rapidly crawl up your body.

“The first piece of bare skin they hit is right above your collar. So you feel that and you reach back and you grab at it. This tick is on the base of your neck by your ear or your hairline, and you look up. It’s a natural thing that we do,” says Dryden. “There is no indication or evidence that these ticks are falling out of trees.”

Another commonly held notion is that all ticks carry Lyme disease. Dryden says it depends on where you are and the tick population. In most areas, only a small percentage of ticks carry Lyme disease or other pathogens. 

However, he says if you find one on you, it has to be removed. There are plenty of old wives’ tales on how to do it.

“There was a study done back in the 1980s that looked at these various tick-removal methods. They tried using petroleum jelly and even a lit match. Those techniques don’t hold any credence, but they’re really common myths,” says Dryden.

“The best way to remove a tick is to use a pair of tweezers. Grab the tick as close to the skin as possible and then pull it straight out,” he says.

Most people say the tick’s head has to come out. Dryden says if you can’t remove it, don’t fret. The worst thing that will happen is that the area will develop a small welt.

STOP THEM IN THEIR TRACKS

Ticks love to hang out in tall grass where it’s fairly shaded and moist. So a good defense is to keep areas like these mowed and dry. If that’s not possible and you find yourself in tick habitat, be sure to wear a repellent.

Ken Holscher is an Extension entomologist at Iowa State University. Instead of using the typical mosquito spray, he recommends a tick repellent. 

“It’s not meant to be applied to your skin; it’s meant to be applied to your clothing, where it will remain active for a long period of time,” says Holscher.

“If you understand that ticks start from the ground and work their way up, you only need to apply that product from the knees on down. You don’t need to spray down all of your clothing. You just need some protection down to where the ticks are going to start,” he says.

It’s also important to wear the appropriate clothing. That includes long pants, socks, and boots. Stick your pant legs into your socks to prevent ticks from getting to your skin. 

Holscher has another trick that makes it tough for the creepy crawlers.

“Right where the pant legs are tucked into the boots or socks, wrap that with masking tape. Wrap it a couple of times and then twist the tape so the sticky side is facing outward. Wrap it again a couple of times. It’s amazing how many ticks will get stuck on that sticky side as they start to crawl,” says Holscher. “Since they can’t crawl underneath your pants, they’ve got to crawl over them. When they hit that sticky masking tape, they get stuck there.”

Ticks can’t transmit Lyme disease unless they’re attached to you and actively feeding. That’s why it’s very important to thoroughly check your body for ticks after you’ve been outside.

NIRSAL to establish $300m loan project for youth farmers

The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has disclosed plans to establish a $300m agribusiness loan project for youth farmers across the country.

NIRSAL Executive Director, Babajide Arowosafe, who made this known in Ibadan, informed that the project known as “Youth Enable’, would enhance economic diversification while creating business opportunities and employable skills for young men and women across varying value chains.

He said, “we need youths that are secondary and university graduates who are willing to go into green business, fresh food business, agri-commodities where Nigeria has comparative advantage”.

Highlighting some of the value chains that youth farmers can explore, he noted that the project will drive youths into looking for opportunities within the agricultural value chain and develop business models that will be sustainable over the years.

The executive director also affirmed that the organisation would support the farmers with its risk sharing facilities and supervise farmers using technology.

“NIRSAL is bringing on board its risk sharing facility, its technical assistance, cutting edge technology to make sure that we monitor activities of those youths using technology”  he said.

Assuring youth farmers of low interest rates, he said the project would be implemented in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), and would be funded by the African Development Bank (AFDB).

NIRSAL is a subsidiary of the Central Bank of Nigeria designed to enable the flow of affordable financing to all players in the agricultural value chains.

The project is expected to commence within the next few weeks

#FACTSFEED

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