New Zealand Pork Buyers Conclude U.S. Tour with Pork 101 in Nebraska
New Zealand Pork Buyers Conclude U.S. Tour with Pork 101 in Nebraska
A group of five pork buyers from New Zealand concluded a USMEF-sponsored tour of Iowa and Nebraska Thursday by completing a three-day “Pork 101” educational seminar at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The course included an overview of U.S. pork production practices and sessions focused on hog selection and pricing, carcass evaluation and grading, and hands-on exercises in pork cutting and sausage making.
Garth Wise (left), of New Zealand-based meat processor Bay Cuisine Limited, participates in a carcass evaluation exercise at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The team’s U.S. tour began late last week in Iowa when they visited the JBS pork plant in Marshalltown and the Des Moines headquarters of Townsend Engineering, a leading manufacturer of sausage-making equipment. This was followed by a tour of the Pine Ridge Farms pork processing plant in Des Moines and the Grimes headquarters of Midwest Premier Foods. The Iowa portion of the tour concluded with several retail visits, providing the group with an up-close look at pork packaging and merchandising practices. The group’s first stop in Nebraska was a Monday tour of the Farmland pork plant in Crete.
“The scale of what you do here in the U.S. – the number of hogs processed per day – has been mind-blowing,” said Brian Tilbrook, operations manager for Leonard’s Superior Smallgoods, a processor of bacon, ham and sausage products that utilizes U.S. pork. “And the professionalism the plants have shown as they handle and move that quantity of product has been quite impressive. I can see why the U.S. industry is having success in the New Zealand market. They have been more than helpful and very responsive to all of our questions.”
New Zealand has emerged as a promising market for U.S. pork, with exports setting a record in 2009 of 7,266 metric tons (16.02 million pounds) valued at $17.2 million.
The group also met Thursday with Larry Sitzman, executive director of the Nebraska Pork Producers Association (NPPA) and Dr. Donald Levis of the University of Nebraska for a discussion of Nebraska’s pork industry and its important role in the state’s economy. Dr. Levis served 15 years on the NPPA Executive Committee and is well-known for his expertise in pork production facility design and his leadership in swine producer extension services.
“This tour really surpassed my expectations in terms of what I thought I would see,” said William Curd, operations manager for Auckland-based Hobson’s Choice Meat and Bacon Company. “The professionalism throughout the industry and the cleanliness of the cutting floors - everyone’s done a really fine job of showing us the different aspects of production.”
Curd added that Hobson’s is already a purchaser of U.S. pork, but will now consider adding U.S. sow meat to its sausage-making operation.
Also participating were Greg Beecroft, a Wellington-based production supervisor, Lee Groucott of Rangitikei Meats in Palmerston North and Garth Wise of Napier-based meat processor Bay Cuisine Limited. The tour was supported in part by the Pork Checkoff and the USDA Market Access Program. The Pork Checkoff is also one of the funding partners behind the Pork 101 seminar.
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The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.
For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.
USMEF complies with all equal opportunity, non-discrimination and affirmative action measures applicable to it by contract, government rule or regulation or as otherwise provided by law.
New Zealand Pork Buyers Conclude U.S. Tour with Pork 101 in Nebraska
A group of five pork buyers from New Zealand concluded a USMEF-sponsored tour of Iowa and Nebraska Thursday by completing a three-day “Pork 101” educational seminar at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The course included an overview of U.S. pork production practices and sessions focused on hog selection and pricing, carcass evaluation and grading, and hands-on exercises in pork cutting and sausage making.
Garth Wise (left), of New Zealand-based meat processor Bay Cuisine Limited, participates in a carcass evaluation exercise at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The team’s U.S. tour began late last week in Iowa when they visited the JBS pork plant in Marshalltown and the Des Moines headquarters of Townsend Engineering, a leading manufacturer of sausage-making equipment. This was followed by a tour of the Pine Ridge Farms pork processing plant in Des Moines and the Grimes headquarters of Midwest Premier Foods. The Iowa portion of the tour concluded with several retail visits, providing the group with an up-close look at pork packaging and merchandising practices. The group’s first stop in Nebraska was a Monday tour of the Farmland pork plant in Crete.
“The scale of what you do here in the U.S. – the number of hogs processed per day – has been mind-blowing,” said Brian Tilbrook, operations manager for Leonard’s Superior Smallgoods, a processor of bacon, ham and sausage products that utilizes U.S. pork. “And the professionalism the plants have shown as they handle and move that quantity of product has been quite impressive. I can see why the U.S. industry is having success in the New Zealand market. They have been more than helpful and very responsive to all of our questions.”
New Zealand has emerged as a promising market for U.S. pork, with exports setting a record in 2009 of 7,266 metric tons (16.02 million pounds) valued at $17.2 million.
The group also met Thursday with Larry Sitzman, executive director of the Nebraska Pork Producers Association (NPPA) and Dr. Donald Levis of the University of Nebraska for a discussion of Nebraska’s pork industry and its important role in the state’s economy. Dr. Levis served 15 years on the NPPA Executive Committee and is well-known for his expertise in pork production facility design and his leadership in swine producer extension services.
“This tour really surpassed my expectations in terms of what I thought I would see,” said William Curd, operations manager for Auckland-based Hobson’s Choice Meat and Bacon Company. “The professionalism throughout the industry and the cleanliness of the cutting floors - everyone’s done a really fine job of showing us the different aspects of production.”
Curd added that Hobson’s is already a purchaser of U.S. pork, but will now consider adding U.S. sow meat to its sausage-making operation.
Also participating were Greg Beecroft, a Wellington-based production supervisor, Lee Groucott of Rangitikei Meats in Palmerston North and Garth Wise of Napier-based meat processor Bay Cuisine Limited. The tour was supported in part by the Pork Checkoff and the USDA Market Access Program. The Pork Checkoff is also one of the funding partners behind the Pork 101 seminar.
# # #
The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.
For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.
USMEF complies with all equal opportunity, non-discrimination and affirmative action measures applicable to it by contract, government rule or regulation or as otherwise provided by law.