NPPC Hosts Pork Action Group Meeting for Top Producers

Dec 18, 2023

The country’s top pork producers convened at the National Pork Producers Council's (NPPC) annual Pork Action Group (PAG) meeting in Marco Island, Fla., on Dec. 13-15. The event provided a platform for insightful discussions on critical issues within the industry, featuring expert insights on retailer and foodservice dynamics, as well as the continuing challenges facing the industry throughout the value chain.

Distinguished speakers included the Animal Ag Alliance President and CEO Hannah Thompson-Weeman, C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. Corporate Manager of Perishable Meat Purchasing Jay Pooler, and Bryan Valladares, director of sustainability for Darden Restaurant Group, one of the world’s largest full-service restaurant companies, which owns Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and many others.

NPPC Vice President of International Affairs Maria C. Zieba moderated a panel on international trade with updates from former deputy U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Rufus Yerxa, who now is senior adviser with McLarty Associates; and former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative of Agricultural Affairs Sharon Bomer, principal and founder of AgTrade Strategies. Brett Stuart, Founder and President of Global AgriTrends spoke about trends and issues in global red meat trade and policy.

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner (R-OH) and retired U.S. Navy four-star admiral William McRaven, a Navy SEAL renowned for his inspirational commencement speech about making your bed — “If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right” — delivered captivating keynote addresses.

Why it Matters
The annual Pork Action Group conference brings together the diverse components of the pork industry value chain. This forum provides a unique platform for industry leaders to engage with nationally renowned experts on the pressing issues and challenges confronting the U.S. pork industry, creating an environment where collective wisdom can drive impactful solutions.

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Video: There’s a Whole Barn Buried Under This Field Now

There's old hog barns under that field now. The old hog barn site on the farm has been sitting there for decades, and this is the week it finally came out: concrete pad, burn pile, charred lumber, all of it loaded into a CAT 725C rock truck and buried in a pit we dug back in the timber.

Tork's been waiting his whole life to drive one of these, so he gets the keys to a 50,000 pound rock truck and I ride shotgun. The excavator loads, the dozer clears the timber, the drone shows the whole site from above, and by sundown there's nothing left of the old place but a smooth patch of dirt. It's a weird feeling erasing something that was here before either of us, but the farm has to keep moving.