Rural Issue

Talking to pork purveyors about antibiotics, sow housing

In his position as vice president of industry relations for the National Pork Producers Council, Dallas Hockman focuses on building relationships with pork producers, processors and allied industries. Those allied industries include the major food companies, grocery and restaurant chains, and other purveyors of pork products.

Over the past few years, Hockman has been very busy presenting the pork industry’s side of the sow housing issue to those companies. Hockman says that while the issue has cooled down, it has not gone away.  He says the big challenge facing those companies is finding the supplies of “gestation stall-free” pork that they will need down the road to fulfill their stall-free promises.

Hockman adds that the issue of antibiotic use in pork production is a growing concern with those food companies.

We visited with Hockman about those topics at the recent Iowa Pork Congress in Des Moines.

AUDIO: Dallas Hockman