The Washington County Pork Producers Association: Breaking down stereotypes and helping kids

The Washington County Pork Producers Association is always finding ways to give back to the community while also promoting pork and pork products.

The nonprofit organization has the largest county membership in the state of Iowa and one of the largest in the nation.

This comes as no surprise as the county is not only the top pork producer in Iowa, but also clocks in at number three in the nation, trailing only Sampson and Duplin, North Carolina.

As pork consumption has grown steadily in the past decade, so has the industry. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the average American now consumes about 26.9 pounds of pork each year. That amounts to 8,801,680,000 pounds of pork annually for the entire nation. Bacon, pork chops and pork burgers are now sizzling atop grills as frequently as beef products. So, where does all the pork come from?

The 2017 census conducted by the Census of Agriculture reports that Washington County produces 1,332,048 head of swine each year. The county's pork industry contributes 481.8 million in sales, 147.6 million in labor income and 1,826 jobs. Within the county, there are 161 hog farms, surpassing the state average of 63 farms per county.

The lively pork industry has lead to a lively participation of hog farmers in the Washington County Pork Producers Association. Heather Hora, the public relations chair of the association and a local hog farmer, first got involved with the association in 2006 because she felt it was important to promote pork. Hora notes that there are about 350 members in the association and that the county has one of the most active memberships across the nation. 10 board members meet monthly to discuss promotional events and charity work.

'We have a strong belief that giving back to the community is a big part of being a pork producer,” Hora said.

Among the local organizations that the pork producers sponsors and donates to is Washington Area Youth Sports, local Booster Clubs and the Zach Johnson Foundation.

'We kind of run the gamut as far as what we donate to because we feel like that's part of being a good part of the community,” Hora added.

The association is also heavily involved with the local 4-H chapter. Amy Green, the Washington County Iowa State Extension Office 4-H and Youth Coordinator described the association as 'significant supporters” of the extension office and its programs.

'Any time we've knocked on their door, they've been there,” Green said.

Specifically, the association has been involved with a class the 4-H program hosts called 'Single Source Swine Class,” during which kids in the area each get four swine from the same commercial herd and attempt raise the pigs as quickly and as lean as they can for the sake of production.

In addition to the class, the pork producers are often donating products and grilling for 4H events as well as contributing items to other programs and working and mentoring children who participate in the youth program. For Green, the Washington County Pork Producers Association is another opportunity for the program to connect kids to a caring adult in their community.

'We can only really do what we do when we have caring adults willing to share and teach our 4-H'ers,” Green noted.

'It's significant when people are willing to contribute and share expertise with members. We definitely appreciate and need them to help teach kids … all of the [Washington County Pork Producers Association members] have their own businesses and farms, and have more than full-time responsibilities, but many of them are assisting and participating with us and giving back despite having busy schedules. Not everybody does that, not everybody has that giving spirit,” Green added.

Matt Gent, a board member of the association who runs a hog farm in Washington with his parents and brother, noted that his favorite part of being part of the association is 'when [they] do the donating and helping of other nonprofit youth organizations.”

'It's always enjoyable working with young people and teaching them about what we do,” he said.

Gent further articulated that he felt educating younger kids about the pork industry is important because many in the area do not get an opportunity to grow up on a family farm like he did.

'Farming still is a huge part of the community, and so we want to show the youth what we do and how we do it, and get them interested in our industry,” Gent added.

The hog farmer also remarked that educating people outside of the pork industry is important for addressing stereotypes and negative perceptions of the industry.

'We try showing people the positive things … We're raising more pork on less land, less water, less everything than they did years ago. We're just more environmentally friendly than our predecessors. We try to show people that we're out here trying to do the right thing everyday … because a lot of people don't know how our day-to-day operations work, they only see the negative stuff on T.V. or the internet,” he said.

Hora echoed similar sentiments saying she felt the best way to combat misconceptions of the industry is by 'sharing personal stories and experiences.” For Hora, helping people understand pig farming also has been the most gratifying part of her time on the association's board.

'There is kind of a false narrative put out about pork producers with the confinement units and that we aren't good stewards of the land … and being able to be out there to meet the consumer and talk to the consumer, we all feel like that's the key part,” Hora added.