One of the highlights from this year’s World Pork Expo at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines is the celebration of the Pork Quality Assurance Plus program and the milestone of having about 60 percent of all hogs in the U.S. and nearly 50,000 producers certified under the program’s guidelines.

Chris Novak, Chief Executive Officer of the National Pork Board says while consumers trust farmers, they don’t always understand what producers do. He says, even in areas, where hogs operations are more common, such as Iowa, too many people don’t know what they’re getting with a quality piece of pork and too many times overcook it, ruining its natural, juicy flavor and texture. And Novak says that message is even more important to audiences in Los Angeles and New York, who might be even more removed from the farm environment.

“We’re going to make certain the messages we put out are just as relevant to a housewife or husband [anywhere] who is preparing the family meals [that pork] is healthy, convenient and fun as well. And we know we can offer that with pork.” Novak adds that they hope their efforts will increase per capita spending on pork by 10 percent.

And from the other end of the line, the National Pork Board wants to emphasize to producers how easy it really is to become certified under the Pork Quality Assurance program.

“Most producers are already doing probably 90 percent of [the requirements under the program],” says Tim Bierman, National Pork Board president and a pork producer from Larrabee, Iowa. He adds that while there are a few things a farmer might have to do a little differently, they should jump right in and get rolling to get their operations certified.

“If there’s something [producers] need to change, there’s no penalties or anything like that. It’s just another set of eyes, and it could help them be more efficient.”

Listen to more of my conversations with Chris and Tim in the players below.

Follow more of our coverage from World Pork Expo at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines here on Agwired.com and on our Twitter accounts @jdavisreporter, @jmschroeder, and later this week, @farmpodcaster … hashtag #WPX10. You can also check out the event in our World Pork Expo 2010 Photo Album.

You can download (mp3) and listen to Chris’ remarks here: wpx10-novak.mp3

You can download (mp3) and listen to Tim’s remarks here: wpx10-bierman.mp3

AgWired coverage of the World Pork Expo 2010 is sponsored by: