Feb. 6, 2015
Contact:
Rich Degner, Executive Director
(800) 372-7675,
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!
New Iowa Pork Producers president outlines top 2015 issues
(CLIVE, Iowa) — The new president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association says he’s prepared and ready to lead the organization through the issues and challenges facing the industry.
David Struthers of Collins began his one-year term as Iowa’s pork industry leader on Jan. 27 and he says the IPPA Board of Directors will need to address several major issues in the coming year. One of the top issues is maintaining the industry’s good environmental record, especially in light of a threatened water quality lawsuit against three northwest Iowa counties.
“Producers need to maintain their high reputation of environmental stewardship and we need to make sure that’s expressed and kept in the forefront,” Struthers said.
Struthers also stated that hog farmers need to continue incorporating good biosecurity and best management practices to keep the PRRS and PEDv swine diseases in check. Hopefully through research and pharmaceuticals, we’ll have some breakthroughs and vaccines to do more to prevent the diseases, he said.
One of the key ways IPPA supports hog farmers is by funding critical research at Iowa State University and elsewhere and Struthers sees that continuing during his term.
“We’ll have to see what’s presented to us,” he said. “We’ve put a lot of money into PEDv and foaming pit research. We’re still going to be strong in research and promotion with the Checkoff funds available to us.”
Struthers expressed concern over the ongoing slowdown at several West Coast shipping ports due to a labor dispute, which is being partially blamed for a recent drop in hog prices.
“There’s enough of a backlog that it’s really affected prices,” Struthers said.
Trade Promotion Authority, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling are other key issues that need to be finalized, according to Struthers.
Struthers has served on the IPPA Board since 2009. He has been a member of the executive committee and chaired several others. He started farming and raising hogs in 1985 and now has a 300-sow farrow-to-finish business and 850 acres of row crops in a family corporation.
IPPA serves all Iowa hog farmers through the Pork Checkoff and is an industry-inclusive organization whose mission is to provide a unified voice to promote and educate for a sustainable, socially responsible, profitable and globally competitive pork industry.
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Editor’s Note: A photo will be provided upon request!