Farmscape for April 10, 2017

The CEO of the Iowa Pork Producers Association says it's important for pork producers to be more transparent and talk more about what goes on on the farm.
Presentations by representatives of state pork producers associations from Minnesota and Iowa, part of reciprocal trade advocacy missions, were among the highlights of Manitoba Pork's 2017 Annual General Meeting last week in Winnipeg.
Pat McGonegle, the CEO of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, told those on hand issues of concern in Iowa are similar to those in Manitoba.

Clip-Pat McGonegle-Iowa Pork Producers Association:
A couple of key ones are envoronmental or regulatory issues.
We're one of the most regulated sectors of Ag in Iowa.
We need to continue to look at what we need to do to improve that process.
Secondly I think we're going to have to continue to add transparency to our activities that we do on the farm.
We've done some programs to open up the doors of the barn as to say and to allow consumers and others and neighbors and visitors, understanding we have biosecurity restrictions, to come in and visit our farms and better understand how and what we do.
Not every consumer's worried about it because their lives might be too busy but I think there's a share of consumers that want to better understand how and what we do and we have to be transparent and open to that.
I think the other part of it is educating thought leaders, whether they be regulators, legislators, media, just on what goes on in farms so they have a better understanding.
Of course today, with electronic media and with Facebook and social media and those kinds of things, we can also use those as tools to help share information.

McGonegle says it was great to have the opportunity to visit Manitoba and discuss issues with Manitoba producers.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork