| Calendar of Events |
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September 3 Pork Chop Open Golf Tournament September 4 Promotion at KSU-UCLA Football game |
Find the latest state, national, and international news that can affect your business. KPA staff preview several sources to deliver information that is tailored to Kansas pork producers. For questions or comments, contact the KPA office.
| Kansas Pork Association | |
| 2601 Farm Bureau Road | |
| Manhattan, KS 66502 | |
| phone: | (785) 776-0442 |
| fax: | (785) 776-9897 |
| e-mail: | kpa@kspork.org |
Updated August 30
KPA Pork Chop Open to be held in Washington
The Annual Pork Chop Open Golf Tournament will be held Friday, September 3, at Cedar Hills Golf Course in Washington.
The 18-hole 4-man scramble costs $250 per team. For more information, contact the office.
We would like to thank our sponsors.
Hole sponsors include: First National Bank of Washington; Fourth and Pomeroy Associates, Inc.; Golf USA; Hoovers, Inc.; Hydro Engineering, Inc.; Kastl-Powell Agency Inc.; ; Midwest Livestock; Southeast Nebraska Coop; Suther Feeds. Inc. and Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc.
Event sponsors include:
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The Kansas Pork Association is teaming with the National Pork Board and Kansas State Athletics to kick off the season with a grilling promotion before the KSU-UCLA football game on Saturday, September 4.
The Pork Board's "We Care" trailer will begin serving pork samples just outside the southwest gate to the stadium at noon.
Producers who are willing to help with the promotion will receive tickets to the ballgame. Participants must be over 18. Please call 785-776-0442 to sign up for the promotion.
The 2010 Condray Annual Summer Party
Each year the Condray Family, the employees of KC Pork, Inc. and the employees of Condray Farms, Inc. bring pulled pork, people and great times together for their Annual Summer Party.
"The yearly gathering began as a way to say “thank you” to family and friends that helped us during Marians’ broken arm a few years ago. After that, we just kept doing the gathering for fun. It is a great way to get our community together and enjoy pork!” stated Kent Condray of KC Pork, Inc. and Condray Farms, Inc.
This year the party was held at the First Christian Church Fellowship Hall in Concordia. The pork dishes were served from 6:00 to 7:30 and free pork recipes and pork information sheets were used as centerpieces for the dinner tables. For more pictures from the events visit our Facebook page.
The Pork Community Outreach is designed to assist individual pork producers in becoming more involved and positively visible in their local communities. The KPA is offering matching funds on the expenses on selected community relations activities. The purpose of this program is to multiply the positive effects of pork producer involvement in the communities where hogs are raised.
To be eligible you must:
Fill out a cost share request form and submit it to the KPA at least two weeks prior to your event and submit design ideas to the KPA so that appropriate logos and messages may be included.
Click on Community Outreach to download a form.
Chef Alli Films FOX 43 KTMJ Commercials for Pork
Chef Alli loves pork and we are so happy about it! Beginning in mid-September, Chef Alli will be showcasing two of her favorite pork dishes during :30 commercials that will air on FOX 43 KTMJ. The first dish, just in time for tailgaiting, is her mouth-watering Honey Pork Tenderloin Kabobs. The second dish focuses on the upcoming holiday season with her savory Cherry-Pecan Pork Tenderloin. To see more pictures taken during the commercial shoot visit the our Facebook page.
Chef Alli Winter is a certified personal chef, TV personality, culinary instructor and professional speaker. She is also the CEO of Chef Alli’s, Inc, and is the spokesperson for the Topeka and Manhattan Hy-Vee. Her Take and Bake Tonite entree line is exclusively at Hy-Vee. more information about Chef Alli and other recipes, visit her new blog at http://chefallis.blogspot.com.
KPA works on biosecurity education with Kansas Department of Agriculture's Division of Water Resources
After recent reports of Division of Water Resources personnel visiting multiple farms in one day, KPA staff has provided education to the Division on industry-accepted biosecurity protocols. As part of the process, the Division has agreed to follow protocols for individual farms if the information is provided to the agency.
To ease this process, the KPA has developed a standard form for your use. To download, click on biosecurity.
Kansas Animal Health Department Facility License
Please remember the rules pertaining to the Kansas Animal Health Department's facility license changed during the recent legislative session. Swine, sheep and goats were separated from cattle. The fees for swine will now be figured on an animal unit basis. Please make sure you received the correct form in your mailing. If not, the form can be downloaded by clicking on Swine Form.
Help us build the Pork Restaurant Guide
People ask your staff all the time, “Where can we find the best places to eat pork in Kansas?”
To answer this question, KPA has created a Restaurant Guide on the new KPA website. The web page will include the restaurant’s location, the producer’s favorite item on the menu and a few comments about the menu item.
For added incentive to help be a part of this guide, producers will receive one $20 gift card for each restaurant submitted. Limit 2 restaurants per producer. Call the office and let us know what is your favorite pork dish or download the Restaurant Form.
PQA Plus Site Assessment Rebate Program
The Kansas Pork Association, the National Pork Board and the National Pork Producers Council are encouraging all producers to become PQA Plus certified and achieve PQA Plus Site Status. The purpose of this program is to encourage producers to be proactive in providing the best possible care for their animals and show commitment to the ethical principles of pork production as outlined in the We Care responsible pork initiative.
Having a PQA Plus advisor review your operation can both improve the well-being and productivity of animals in your care by noting changes or additions that may not otherwise be noticed.
The Kansas Pork Association is offering a $100 rebate to Kansas Pork Producers completing a PQA Plus Site Assesment before December 31, 2010. The funding is available on a first-come-first-serve basis.
The following requirements and stipulations apply:
Click here to download the rebate form.
Please contact Tim Stroda at kpa@kspork.org or (785) 776-0442 with questions or to see if funds are still available.
August 27
Livestock Producers Fear GIPSA Rule’s Vagueness and Unintended Consequences
Beef and pork producers rallied against USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration’s (GIPSA)
proposed federal rule on the buying and selling of livestock at a public meeting held in Fort Collins, Colo., Aug. 27.
The meeting on competition in the
livestock industry was hosted by USDA and Department of Justice.Producers voiced concerns to USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack about the unintended consequences of the proposed rule. Robbie LeValley,
president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association; a cattle producer; and a co-owner of Homestead Meats, a family owned company marketing beef locally,
is worried that the proposed rule could have a negative impact on her family business.
“Our innovation and our willingness to do direct marketing has basically now labeled us a packer and under the proposed rule, as I read it, now limits our marketing
options – meaning not being able to sell to other packers,” she said. “While some say that is not the intent of the rule, the vagueness of the language makes it very possible.”
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) held a media briefing on Aug. 26 regarding the proposed rule. Pork
and beef producers representing more than 20 states attended the meeting to voice their opposition to the GIPSA rule, expressing the negative effect it could have
on their operations.
"As written, the GIPSA rule would limit my ability to sell hogs," said NPPC President Sam Carney, a producer from Adair, Iowa. "It's a solution in search of a
problem. The markets work, and we don't need the government trying to 'fix' it. The GIPSA rule is overly broad and very vague. It would inject uncertainty into
the market, stifle innovation and lead to less not more competition in the livestock industry."
Have employees but not large enough to have a human resource (HR) person to locate, adapt and implement basic HR tools? If so, the Pork Checkoff’s new “Employee Care Tool Kit” provides components of a successful HR management program to fi nd, train and retain a high-quality workforce and offers customization for specific needs.
The tool kit is made up of several components. Included are:
Click here to learn more about the Employee Care Toolkit, then Sign Up for access.
Pork production is down, exports are up and pork supplies are tight. There were only 391 million pounds of pork in U.S. cold storage on July 31. That was 27.5% less than a year earlier and the lowest of any month since October 2001.
Statistics Canada reports that the Canadian sow herd was down 4.8% on July 1. This is the 21st consecutive quarter below year-ago. Canadian sow numbers are down 19.1% compared to 5 years ago. Litters farrowed during the second quarter were down 4.3%. Stats Canada is predicting that third quarter farrowings will be down 5.7% and fourth quarter down 5.5%.
The U.S. Commerce Department has revised downward their estimate of economic growth. They now say the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of only 1.6% during the second quarter of 2010 rather than their earlier 2.4% estimate. That is the second straight quarter of slowing growth and implies growth could turn negative later this year. Slow economic growth is not good for meat demand.
The number of hogs sold on the spot market continues to decline. During the first half of 2010 only 7% of barrow and gilt sales to large packers were negotiated sales. It is up to producers to decide if they want the spot market to survive. If producers want spot market pricing in the future, they have to commit to selling a portion of their hogs that way.
The pork cutout value set a new record this week, peaking at $96.74/cwt on Tuesday, up $2.33 from the old record set in August 2008. Since Tuesday, the cutout has been dropping. Thursday afternoon's calculated pork cutout value was $93.73/cwt, down 63 cents from the previous Thursday. Loin and butt prices are lower this week while hams and bellies are higher.
The national weighted average carcass price for negotiated hogs Friday morning was $79.36/cwt, $1.28 lower than the previous Friday. Regional average prices on Friday morning were: eastern corn belt $79.30, western corn belt $79.49, and Iowa-Minnesota $79.26/cwt. The top live hog price Friday was $56/cwt at Sioux Falls and $55 at Peoria. The interior Missouri live top Friday was $56.50/cwt, 75 cents higher than the previous Friday.
This week's hog slaughter totaled 2.11 million head, up 1.8% from the week before, but down 4.2% compared to slaughter during the same week last year. Since June 1, barrow and gilt slaughter has been about 2% lower than implied by USDA's June Hogs and Pigs report.
The average carcass weight of barrows and gilts slaughtered the week ending August 14 was 197 pounds, the same as the week before and the same as a year earlier. Iowa-Minnesota live weight last week averaged 266.6 pounds, up 1 pound compared to a week earlier, but 0.6 pounds lighter than the same week last year.
The October lean hog futures contract ended the week at $74.82/cwt, down $2.38 from the previous Friday. The December contract settled at $72.57 for the week. February closed the week at $75.07/cwt.
Kansas GOLD Inc. working to update producer's information 
Garry Keeler, program coordinator for Kansas GOLD Inc., is now working to update the yearly information needed to recertify facilities. Kansas GOLD Inc. will be contacting producers as their certification becomes due. The program has also recently started working with several producers to begin the process of applying for new permits.
The GOLD program is designed to ensure that when a regulator visits your farm, the information they request can be found easily and is packaged in a pre-approved format. The process begins with a visit to your farm by the Kansas GOLD coordinator, who will begin by examining your KDHE permit for each facility number. This permit tells the coordinator what information needs to be collected and kept on file.
Kansas GOLD Inc. provides a cost-effective manner to ensure your operation is in compliance. For information, please click on GOLD or contact the KPA office at (785) 776-0442 or e-mail to kpa@kspork.org
