A growing number of central Illinois pork producers are choosing to adhere to the National Pork Board’s (NPB) new sustainability tenets, designed to reduce pig farmers’ environmental footprint while charting conservation outcomes to satisfy the shifting demands of companies and consumers.
Announced on February 17, the NPB’s new sustainability campaign is led by pork producers and funded by their Pork Checkoff dollars in collaboration with the National Pork Producers Council.
The pork industry goals are closely aligned with 15 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which are based on shifting consumer needs and expectations analyzed during a producer-led multi-year process. The goals build on the pork industry’s established “We Care” ethical standards adopted in 2008: animal well-being, environmental stewardship, people and employees, communities, public health and food safety.
Environmental sustainability was front and center during the February 22 annual meeting of the Illinois Pork Producers Association (IPPA) in Springfield, where NPB CEO Bill Even traveled from his home in South Dakota to kick off the pork sustainability program in Illinois.
“One of the main reasons we wanted to make sure producers knew about the program…is that it is a valuable tool that several of our producers are already taking advantage of,” said Jennifer Tirey, IPPA executive director. “We need to take it a step further and continue getting more of our Illinois producers to be a part of this program.”
Producers need to be willing to showcase their environmental sustainability goals and outcomes in order to help place the Illinois pork industry among state leaders of the national movement, Tirey added.
Osco, Illinois pig farmer Gary Asay had a leading role in developing the tenets of the new program before his maximum six-year term on the NPB as an Illinois representative expired last year. He also participated in the NPB’s first-ever U.S. Pork Sustainability Report, published in February.
“On our farm we focus on several things on the sustainability front,” said Asay, who raises pigs and grows corn and soybeans on his Henry County farm. Asay said that recent studies have shown that half of the greenhouse gas emissions known to be emanating from swine facilities like his can be credited to crop production.
“On my farm we have used cover crops for over 12 years now. We’ve been continuous no-till for longer than that. We’re using manure to spread over (crop acreage) and trying to reduce any synthetic nitrogen that goes on this crop ground. We also have solar panels that went up in 2017.”
Asay participated in the NPB study by contributing information to a survey that charted manure usage, electricity usage, water usage, crop varieties grown, crop yields and utilization of cover crops and conservation tillage. Asay’s data was aggregated with other participants in Illinois and the U.S. and published-- anonymously-- in the NPB’s first sustainability report.
“We have consumers who are asking more and more questions and there is a lot of false information out there about us. I want to help set the record straight on what we’ve done and what we are doing now,” Asay said, when citing his motives for participating in the study.
Third-generation pork producer Chad Leman of Eureka, who will serve as IPPA’s president in 2023-2024, will soon be welcoming his daughter Tess into his farming operation, which has expanded to include a seed dealership. Leman sees the importance of generational environmental sustainability and will be participating in the 2022 U.S. Pork Industry Sustainability Report survey.
“We’ve always touted our sustainability practices,” said Leman. “We raise pigs, they are our end result. But our corn goes to feed pigs, the manure from the pigs goes back on the field to fertilize the next corn crop, which in turn feeds the next round of pigs. We’ve always been focused on efficiency and making the best use of our resources.”
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