2019 Kansas Pork Association
Making connections Building relationships Engaging in conversation
Making a difference.
That is what we strive for. In 2019, your association continued to work for you, to make a difference. From taking action and being a part of the decisions that affect your industry, to promoting the pork that you raise with hard work and care, we strive to work with your best interest in mind. And we’re making connections — building relationships and engaging in conversation with people who are interested in knowing more about pork and the farmers who raised it. This review provides a summary of what your association has done for you in 2019. Thank you to our many volunteers, National Pork Board, National Pork Producers Council, and of course, our farmers for continuing to be behind our success.
We’ll keep working hard for you.
KPA Staff
President-CEO Tim Stroda
Director of Communications Kim Hanke
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2019 Board of Directors Chairman: Art Sauder, Great Bend Doug Claassen, Whitewater Jason Hall, Elkhart David Hartter, Sabetha Kenton McKee, Goff Megan Potter, Abilene Emily Roush, Lebanon Chuch Springer, Independence Jim Nelssen, Kansas State University
2019: Year in Review CONNECTING WITH LEADERS.
KPA represents farmers with elected leaders throughout the year. Each year has differing challenges. On the state level, KPA held the annual Legislative Reception to visit with members of the legislature to discuss successes and challenges within the pork industry. Kansas Agricultural Alliance – KPA is a member of the Kansas Agricultural Alliance, a 15-member association with the purpose of promoting the general welfare of agriculture and rural communities within Kansas and the United States of America, with special emphasis on legislative activities affecting agriculture, rural areas and cooperative services. KPA is a part of a KDHE stakeholder group which has been exploring ideas to streamline the KDHE regulatory process. KPA worked with other agricultural groups to help farmers through water issues with the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources. In 2019, the KPA worked with the National Pork Producers Council in many ways. This work included letters to Congress, meetings with members of Congress and their staff, and dialogue with the federal agencies that regulate the swine industry.
Here are some of the successes for the year. • • • • • • •
Led the charge in the resolving of the North American metal dispute, prompting removal of Mexican punitive tariffs of 20% ($12 hit per hog) on U.S. pork in May. Successfully pushed in Washington DC and Tokyo for an early harvest U.S.-Japan trade deal covering pork and other farm products. Aggressively engaged with USDA and Homeland Security to prevent African Swince Fever (ASF) from entering the United States. Secured permanent livestock exemption from Electronic Logging Device requirement and initiated the process of establishing new Hours of Service rules. Marshaled the effort to secure permanent U.S. Environmental PRotection Agenvy rulese exepmting farms from emissions reporting. Advocated for the repeal of the Waters of the U.S. rule (WOTUS), laying groundwork for a new final rule. Secured $4 million in USDA funding for trichinae surveillance program and prompted industry-wide participation in a program that will help the U.S. pork industry achieve negligible risk status for trichinella in the World Organization for Animal Health. The status will eliminate the ability of other countries to impose costly mitigations on U.S. pork and it will help us reach more international markets.
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Overview of Kansas pork industry Number of Farms with a water permit • Above 1,000 animal units: 122 • 0 to 1,000 animal units: 357 Total Target: 479 USDA December 1, 2019 Inventory: 2,140,000
Completed SPS Plans: 416 • • • •
41 Sow Units 90 Nurseries 285 Finishers 2,134,602 head
Operation Main Street. OMS presentations facilitate conversations with consumers statewide about pork production, health and nutrition information and current technlologies in agriculture. Kansas currently has 37 trained speakers who present to high school classes, civic organizations, dietetic groups, vet techs, educators and more. Taste of Elegance. The KPA helped sponsor this annual event which brings together top chefs to prepare pork-inspired dishes. The event also serves as a way to say thank you to the Harvesters food bank donors and volunteers.
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2019: Year in Review Virtual Field Trips. Over 1,500 students participated in live virtual field trips in 2019. Pre- and post-surveys continue to show positive shifts in attitude in regards to animal welfare, environmental effects of raising animals and knowledge about pig farming. This program is a joint venture between KPA, Kansas Corn Commission, Kansas Soybean Commission, Frontier Farm Credit and The Pork Checkoff. Special thanks to Michael & Christy Springer and Kaden & Emily Roush for hosting the tours. Kansas Governor’s Summit on Agricultural Growth. KPA staff was among the nearly 400 leaders representing a variety of agricultural interests that came together for the conference hosted by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. The event helped identify challenges and opportunities within individual sectors of agriculture. Youth and KSU Sponsorship. Events supported by KPA in 2020 include Swine Profitability Conference, junior swine programs, Bob Hines Swine Classic, Swine Day, Kansas 4-H, Kansas FFA and county ag days. National Pork Industry Forum. Representatives from Kansas attended the National Pork Industry Forum held in Orlando. Forum serves as the annual meetings of the National Pork Board and the National Pork Producers Council. Representatives from Kansas who atteneded were Alan Haverkamp, Scott Pfortmiller and Roy Henry. Tim Stroda, KPA President-CEO, also attended.
Wellness Workshops. KPA was a sponsor of regional wellness workshops hosted by the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE). The workshops focused on encouraging and assisting Kansas schools in taking action to implement modeling level wellness policies and incorporated Farm to Plate.
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KPA develops new email series Real Pig Farming Tour. The #RPF tour is continuing to make a positive impact on consumer attitudes about food and farming.This year’s #RPF tour hosted dietitians and bloggers, and included stops at Fair Oaks Farm’s Pig Adventure, Maple Leaf Farms and Rodibaugh Farms. Pre- and post-tour surveys showed that concerns about raising animals indoors decreased, concerns about the humane treatment of farm animals decreased, while trust in America’s food system increased. The Kansas Soybean Commission partnered with KPA to host this tour. Farm Food Tour. The three-day tour hosted bloggers and dietitians, and included stops at Elanco Animal Health, Monsanto’s research facility and Central Missouri Meat and Sausage. Topics covered include antibiotic and hormone use in food animals, GMOs, bee health and meat processing. The FFT is sponsored by The Kansas Soybean Commission, Kansas Farm Bureau and KPA.
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2019: Year in Review Ibotta Retail Campaigns. KPA ran 3 Ibotta campaigns throughout the year, promoting pork chops and ham. In order to redeem an offer of $0.25 off a fresh pork product, consumers had to watch a short video. The promotions were offered to shoppers in Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. Almost 300,000 shoppers watched the videos and over 87,000 people purchased fresh pork products.
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Digital.
Social Media at a glance...
• Over 92,000
total social media followers
Connect with us @KansasPork
monthly • Over 77,000 average engaged
• Over 55
million impressions served
Bacon Ambassador Program. KPA continued the Bacon Ambassadors Instagram program for a second year in a row. KPA partnered with 14 online influencers to grow and engage its social following, while also creating relevant content for eatpork.org. These “Bacon Ambassadors,” with an online reach of over 2.7 million, created content centered around the flavors of pork and how easy it is to be creative in the kitchen or on the grill, while doing it at an affordable price. The posts also incorporated the message of cooking pork to 145 degrees. The influencer posts garnered an impressive reach of over 4 million and over 45 million impressions. “Working with influencers is a long-term investment,” said Tim Stroda, KPA PresidentCEO. “The online content they create continues to be shared and works for the benefit of farmers for years to come.” Content from the 2018 program continued to be shared in 2019, reaching an additional 3.8 million people with over 9 million impression.
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2019: Year in Review Kansas Pro Start Invitational. KPA supported the annual invitational as both an event sponsor and a management judge. The event is a premier high school competition focused on restaurant management and culinary arts. Kansas State Fair. KPA worked with Osborne Industries to design a new farrowing stall for the Livestock Birthing Center at the Kansas State Fair. KPA paid for the stall. The Birthing Center is a joint venture between the Kansas State Fair, Kansas Veterinary Medical Association (KVMA) and the KSU College of Veterinary Medicine. It’s staffed by vet students and supervised by KSU veterinarians and the KVMA. The sow housed in the Birthing Center had a healthy litter of 15 piglets, giving fair spectators the opportunity to see the farrowing process.KPA also had the model pig barn on display in the Birthing Center to give fair goers the opportunity to see what modern pig barns look like. KPA also provided youth materials to be handed out at the State Fair Education Center, which had almost 4,000 attendees.
Pork Chop Open. Colbert Hills in Manhattan was the venue for the 2019 fundraiser. The annual golf tournament brought together producers and industry partners for an 18-hole scramble. Page 9
Kansas Meat Processors Association. KPA sponsored the Most Innovative Pork Product award at the KMPA’s annual convention. Kansas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The KPA partnered with Kansas Corn Commission, Kansas Soybean Commission and Kansas Farm Bureau to help sponsor the KSAND annual conference. Kansas pig farmers Austin and Kendall Heiniger, Fairview, assisted at the KPA booth and answered questions from dietitians and health professionals related to raising pig. Kansas Nutrition Council. The KPA was a sponsor for a pre-conference event for the KNC’s annual meeting. Attendees networked with farmers and other professionals.
Pig Tales. Pig Tales is the official publication of the Kansas pork industry and continues to reach producers and industry partners on both the state and national levels. E-Newsletter. This daily email features both state and national news, including consumer programs, legislative information, regulatory updates, producer education and export reports. In Pursuit of Pork. KPA continues to manage this restaurant guide blog. Content includes review of pork dishes from Kansas restaurants, cooking tips and reader contests. Pork in the Schools. KPA provides scholarships for Family and Consumer Science classrooms to purchase fresh pork for school labs.
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2019: Year in Review Foreign Animal Disease Exercises. KPA staff and producers participated in foreign animal disease and African Swine Fever-specific emergency preparedness exercises held by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. The exercises are a practice of the state’s response plan to an FAD outbreak. The exercises also test the implementation of the Secure Pork Supply plans, which relate to animal movement during an outbreak.
Swine Profitability Conference. Over 165 swine producers, allied industry representatives, KSU faculty and students attended this year’s Swine Profitability Conference in Manhattan. KPA is the feature sponsor of this event.
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Questions, comments or concerns? Contact us at: Kansas Pork Association 2601 Farm Bureau Road Manhattan, KS 66502 785-776-0442 www.kspork.org www.eatpork.org
Working for You.