Earlier this month, I had the large honor of touring to Washington, D.C. as a part of the Iowa Pork Management Academy. This journey was greater than a management expertise — it was a front-row seat to the coverage conversations that form the way forward for American pork manufacturing.
Alongside a bunch of passionate pork advocates, we met with representatives from the Nationwide Pork Producers Council (NPPC), the U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA), and Iowa’s total Congressional Delegation — together with Senator Chuck Grassley, Senator Joni Ernst, Congressman Randy Feenstra, Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, Congressman Zach Nunn, and Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks.
These weren’t simply picture ops or routine conferences. They had been detailed, trustworthy conversations in regards to the advanced realities going through Iowa’s pork producers and the nationwide business:
- Proposition 12 and its unintended penalties past California’s borders
- Retaliatory tariffs and the rising want to guard and broaden commerce entry
- Overseas animal illness preparedness, a subject that looms over each producer’s thoughts
- The MAHA Fee Report, and guaranteeing pork producers have a seat on the desk in shaping nationwide well being methods
- The continued want for farmer voices in coverage growth, particularly as laws evolve
I used to be struck by how receptive and engaged our lawmakers had been. These discussions strengthened one thing we regularly neglect in agriculture: our voices matter in Washington. After we present up knowledgeable, united, and respectful, policymakers hear.
This expertise additionally reaffirmed why I selected to work on this business. The pork sector is resilient, nevertheless it’s additionally at a crossroads. Whether or not we’re discussing market entry, shopper preferences, animal well being, or sustainability, the choices made in D.C. ripple again to farms throughout the nation.
As a younger skilled, I left Capitol Hill with a deeper dedication to advocacy. The way forward for pork manufacturing doesn’t relaxation on one particular person or one group — it’s a collective effort. And that future is dependent upon producers, scientists, college students, and stakeholders alike persevering with to lift their voices and lean into management alternatives like this.
To anybody within the business who wonders in case your voice could make a distinction: it will probably. It does.
Let’s preserve exhibiting up. [email protected]
