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‘Waste management’ was focus of swine symposium in China

Pork industry leaders from the U.S. and China gathered in Beijing for the 2014 U.S.-China Swine Industry Symposium.

Joel Haggard, who covers the Asia Pacific region for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, says the focus was on waste management.

“This is a very important topic for the Chinese because the Chinese industry is facing new environmental regulations and also a public that’s growing more concerned about the condition of the environment,” Haggard says.

According to Haggard, there was a lot of discussion about “sustainable” pork production.

“It was great to see the U.S. producers’ concern over sustainability,” he says. “China is just getting to the point of having that (word) in its production vocabulary.”

Among the speakers at the symposium was Wayne Humphreys, a pork, corn and soybean producer who serves on the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. Humphreys provided attendees with an overview of the manure management practices on his hog operation in Louisa County, Iowa.

Russ Vering of Scribner, Nebraska, who serves as vice president of the Nebraska Pork Producers Association, gave a presentation on large animal mortality composting – another important area of environmental protection that presents a growing challenge for China’s producers.

Other members of the U.S. delegation included:

  • Bruce Schmoll, Minnesota Soybean Association and USMEF secretary-treasurer
  • Patrick Fitzsimmons, president of the Minnesota Pork Board
  • Craig Mensink, Minnesota pork producer and National Pork Board member
  • Becca Hendricks, vice president for international marketing, National Pork Board
  • Scott McGregor, Iowa Soybean Association
  • Dean Black, Iowa Beef Industry Council
  • David Bruntz, Nebraska Corn Board

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