FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

What role does livestock production play in a rural economy?

Pork production is woven together with other segments of the agriculture community to create the fabric that holds the rural economy together. In addition to salaries earned by direct farm employees there are indirect impacts on the local economy.
 
For example, employees usually spend their salary in the local community for housing, food,
services and other needs. The hog operation may purchase supplies, services and feed,
transportation and veterinary services and supplies locally. These expenditures create more jobs
and income in the community.

Pork production also contributes to the health and vitality of other agriculture sectors by providing an important market for crops.  For example, 56% of the U.S. corn crop is used for livestock feed. 1.4 billion bushels - or 10% of the total crop - is fed to hogs. Likewise, pork production is important to soybean producers as the industry uses 265 million bushels - or about 10% of the U.S. crop.

What is the U.S. pork industry doing to protect the environment?

Pork producers care for and work to protect the environment every day. Farmers are the original recyclers - growing crops, feeding the grain to livestock and using the nutrients in livestock manure as fertilizer.  Done the right way, recycling the nutrients created in hog farming is good for the environment and reduces our dependence on petroleum-based fertilizers.

Remember, pork producers and their families drink the same water and breathe the same air as their neighbors. They have every reason to protect the environment.

What happens to the waste produced at a hog farm?

Most hog farmers don't like to call it "waste" because of its value as a fertilizer. Using manure
as a fertilizer is a practice as old as agriculture itself.  Application of manure to cropland is both a less expensive option for the producer, and a benefit to crops and soil.

Every living thing needs nutrients to grow. Plants require nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and 10 other chemical elements. Most of these nutrients enter the plants through soil. Application of manure, which contains nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus, is an important part in completing the natural nutrient cycle of agriculture.

Farmers must develop nutrient management plans to address the complexities of extracting the fertilizer value of manure in modern cropping systems. Those plans ensure that manure is being applied in an environmentally sound and scientifically measured manner.

What is a "lagoon"?

The word "lagoon" frequently is used to describe a lined or clay pit in the ground where liquid manure is stored. Technically, lagoons are earthen structures designed to treat manure through biodegradation by bacteria. Properly functioning lagoons reduce both the solid and nitrogen content of liquid manure, control odors and kill pathogens.

Lagoons hold the manure and water until there is a suitable opportunity to use the manure as fertilizer for crops according to state and federal guidelines.

Are current waste management systems safe?

Yes. While industry-backed research has yielded good information on the development of new waste-management systems, the current lagoon and sprayfield system works very well when properly designed, constructed and managed. Systems such as this that do not discharge directly to waterways are widely used throughout the country for a variety of waste treatment applications, including municipal wastewater treatment.

Do pork producers truly care about the well-being of their animals?

U.S. pork producers know that good care and attention to the well-being and comfort of their animals is not only the right thing to do, it is an important responsibility they take seriously.
  
The modern farmer goes to great lengths to ensure his or her animals are raised in a clean, comfortable, disease-free environment.

Are antibiotics overused in pork production and will they make me resistant to medicines?

Over the last 17 years, U.S. pork producers have dramatically decreased the need for antibiotics by lowering disease threats through sound herd management and by using drugs correctly and only when needed.  Your chance of antibiotic treatment failure due to resistance from eating pork is 1 in 53 million.

Is pork nutritious?

Yes!  Pork is full of the nutrients needed for good health‹proteins, vitamins and minerals.  In addition many pork cuts today are very low in fat, cholesterol and sodium.  Pork has a very low allergenic quotient.

How do I know when pork has been properly cooked?

Pork should be juicy and tender, with a slight blush of pink in the center after cooking. Your meat thermometer should read 160°F.

Is it true that pork is leaner today than it used to be?

Yes. Traditional cuts of pork have nearly one-third less fat than they did 20 years ago. Today's pork is of higher quality and safer than at any time in history, but it also costs consumers 20 percent less today than it did in 1979.