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VIDEO: World Pork Expo underway

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Published: June 4, 2024

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Reporter Ed White is in Des Moines, Iowa, this week covering the World Pork Expo. Check back for daily updates. | Ed White photo

Western Producer reporter Ed White is in Iowa this week attending the World Pork Expo at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

Nearly 400 exhibitors from the U.S. and around the world will be on site, and more than 10,000 pork producers and ag professionals will be in attendance.

Follow this page for daily updates, or Ed himself on X via @EdWhiteMarkets, as he dives into the world of swine and discovers what’s new for pork producers.

VIDEO: GPS-enabled light strengthens biosecurity

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DES MOINES, Iowa — If you look at them, nothing seems new with these red rear lights for hog trailers.

Hidden inside is a big difference. Click here for the full story and video.

Rob Hannam of Farm Health Guardian said that many biosecurity breaches were never being spotted because drivers didn’t think much about them, and they didn’t seem like a big deal. But any contact with possibly-infected territory needs to be known by biosecurity managers on farms, so this simple gps-enabled brake light can fulfill that role. | Ed White photo

Issues loom over hog farmers as they gather in Des Moines

North America’s hog industry is grappling with multiple issues these days, but is presently feeling better than some of the other livestock industries. That doesn’t mean that everything’s great, but not yet having to deal with avian flu infections is keeping hog farmers in a cautiously optimistic mood about their challenges. Click here for the full story.

Top of the challenges this year, as it was last year, is the impact of Proposition 12, the California law that tightly restricts how much room each gestating sow is required to have in a barn, an amount that only a minority of the North American sow herd can satisfy. | Getty Images

VIDEO: Quiet on ASF front doesn’t mean danger is gone

The North American hog industry has gone quiet on the ASF front, but that isn’t because the risk of infection from offshore is any less severe.

As Dr. Anna Forseth, director of animal health with the National Pork Producers Council, tells us in this video, after years of preparation for an ASF outbreak, producers and industry are just keeping themselves ready for any possible outbreak.

VIDEO: Canadians prominent at World Pork Expo

The World Pork Expo is chock-a-block with Canadian innovators, manufacturers and service providers.

Wherever you turn here, you run into a Canuck.

VIDEO: MacAulay stresses importance of integration

DES MOINES, Iowa — On his visit to Des Moines and the World Pork Expo, Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay stressed the value of the deep integration of the U.S.-Canadian hog market and industries.

In a visit arranged by the Canadian consulate in Minneapolis, MacAulay, attended by other significant Canadian representatives such as M.P. Ted Falk, met with senior Iowa business, industry and political leaders to promote the continued integration of the two nations’ economies.

VIDEO: MacAulay boosts Canada at expo

DES MOINES, Iowa — Federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay gave Canadian farmers and agriculture a big boost at this year’s World Pork Expo by touring the show, meeting American industry leaders and hosting a who’s-who of Iowa business leaders at a reception.

The visit by a Canadian agriculture minister to this event was the first in memory, and drew praise from Americans and Canadians for recognition of an industry that is a paragon of free trade success.

VIDEO: Bland outlook for rest of 2024 hog market

DES MOINES, Iowa — It’s better than losing a lot of money, but hog producers are facing razor-thin profitability for the remainder of 2024, say two leading hog market analysts.

“I don’t see us as much better than break-even,” said Steve Meyer, who gave a number of hog market outlooks at the World Pork Expo, in an interview.

Fragile pigs an unexpected risk of past breeding efforts

DES MOINES, Iowa — Years ago, when Mark Soleta of Lakefield, Minnesota, brought in a load of freshly weaned Canadian piglets, he was confident those pigs would easily handle any disease challenges they faced.

That confidence is gone. Click here for the full story.

Today’s pigs do great when the barn is free of disease. When it’s not, an outbreak can sweep through animals with alarming ferocity. | File photo

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