Grant: Advancing U.S. Pork Sustainability and Market Value

Jan 09, 2023

$20 million grant available to Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri pork producers to advance climate-smart agriculture practices.

In September 2022, the Advancing U.S. Pork Sustainability and Market Value grant submitted by National Pork Board (NPB) and six collaborating organizations was awarded $20 million through USDA’s Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities program.

The grant program is designed to increase the sustainability of U.S. pork products by advancing climate-smart agriculture practices in Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri.

Grant Supports Climate-Smart On-Farm Practices
The grant will support the completion of We Care® on-farm reports by pork producers in three states, and it will incentivize the adoption of climate-smart practices that are recommended through the reporting process.

No two farms are the same, so the project team will look to implement practices tailored to growers’ needs and report progress toward meaningful climate benefits.

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Video: Validating Net Energy in Commercial Swine Systems - Gustavo Lima

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Gustavo Lima, PhD candidate at Iowa State University, explains how soybean meal net energy is evaluated using growth assays and calorimetry. He discusses caloric efficiency, validation under commercial conditions, and differences between controlled and real-world environments. Gustavo also highlights practical implications for diet formulation and ingredient valuation. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Indirect calorimetry provides a precise estimation of ingredient energy, yet validation under production conditions remains essential for accurate application in real systems.”

Meet the guest: Gustavo Lima / gustavo-lima-a9867127 is a PhD candidate in Animal Science at Iowa State University, specializing in swine nutrition, ingredient evaluation, and energy metabolism. With over 15 years of experience across Latin America, his work focuses on soybean meal utilization, caloric efficiency, and applied research for commercial production systems.