The weather in Iowa has started to turn, and there are moments when it clearly feels like fall. When those days come around, you need a jacket and your car defrost in the morning, but by afternoon you are comfortably wearing short sleeves with the windows down. This means the corn and bean fields near my house will soon be buzzing with activity. It also means that Pork Month is here.

October was designated Pork Month for mostly historical reasons. Today’s modern pork production does still have some seasonality, but nothing like the days of old when hogs were harvested on the farm starting in October so that the meat and by-products could be used to sustain the family through the winter.

Growing up, I remember reading the Little House on the Prairie series. I am currently introducing these books to my fourth grader. To my surprise and delight, this fan of science fiction and fantasy is finding them interesting, so this is a big win in my eyes! One of my favorite memories from those books was reading about slaughtering the pig and how they used every single bit of it for something — right down to the bladder, which was blown up into a balloon and batted around as a game. (I am convinced this may have been the precursor of dodgeball.)

Pa Ingalls had sustainability figured out all those years ago. The pig on the farm was a recycler, eating those things the family would not or could not eat and turning it into amazing ham, ribs, chops and bacon for the family to eat all winter.

While we have, as an industry, grown and evolved way beyond Little House in the Big Woods, efficiency and waste reduction have remained critically important in the world of animal agriculture today. As a matter of fact, compared to 60 years ago, the pork industry uses 75% less land, 25% less water and 7% percent less energy to produce pound of pork.

And yet, we get very little credit. Consumers today make choices all the time based on corporate stories that assure them they are buying something that will reduce waste or is made of recycled products. So why not pork?

Earlier this year, pork producers set aggressive goals for continuous improvement in the areas of animal well-being, people, environment, food safety, public health and community involvement. This is a huge step that will require detailed measurement and verification. When you are processing your own pig, you know exactly how it was raised and how efficiently you are using your resources. Today’s consumer is significantly removed from food production, and needs more than “take our word for it.”

Over the past 20-plus years, I have worked in every part of the pork supply chain and can say that, at every step of the way, we have environmentalists, animal welfare experts, recyclers, optimizers and strong contributors to their local communities leading the charge. I am excited that we are finally working to take credit for all the good we have done and continue to do.

As some of you may have heard or seen, I recently left the Pork Checkoff for another opportunity. I am happy to say that I will still be working in the pork industry in addition to getting the opportunity to stretch into poultry, beef, dairy and row and specialty crops. My new focus is to help the industry quantify and verify measurements to assure consumers that we are doing what we say. I look forward to sharing what I learn from other industries with my pork brethren. I know that I have a lot to share with them based on what I have learned from all of you.

Everything but the squeal

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