The response to the "Green Pig Concept" has been very positive and is growing. I hope it will stimulate the discussion that is needed to develop an industry approach needed to re-position our image to consumers and people outside the Pork Industry as well as others inside the Industry. It certainly created the attention and a platform from which we can tell our story along with a handout that explains the details of "Green Pigs".

I believe embracing the "Green Concept" and allowing us to define its meaning from a Pork Industry perspective can put us on the offensive instead of the defensive and will gain the attention needed for us to tell our story.

Below are two articles of endorsement, along with the "Green Pig" Trifold Brochure we put together that we used to tell our story. The Pork Industry Story would not be identical to ours but would have the overriding "Green Efficiencies" and "Green Programs" that the Industry have developed to be, Socially, Environmentally, and Ethically responsible. WE have a great story to tell!

Live interviews by Trent Loos with myself, Jane Wells CNBC and Mark Boggess Director ANS NPB can be seen on the Trent Loos YOU TUBE site.

Please take time to read the two articles and the Brochure that help to explain "The Greenest Pigs" Concept and the potential I believe it holds for us to gain the attention we need in order to be heard.

The timing is right for us to embrace the green movement, while allowing us to define its meaning from the Pork Industry Perspective,
I truly believe we have been a part of the Green Movement long before its inception. Please give this your thought and your input.

Thanks for your consideration. A GREEN PIG IS ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY!

NEXT GENERATION of GENETICS FOR:
     • Natural Production
     • Antibiotic-Free Selection
     • Genetic Disease Resistance
     • Premium Pork Quality
     • Extended Longevity
     • Optimum Productivity

COMMITED TO:
     • The “Greenest” Pigs
     • Ethical Production
     • Social Responsibility
     • Environmental Stewardship
     • EMS and CNMP by Validus
     • Environmental Management System
     • Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan
     • Profitablity

Truline Genetics is dedicated to making our genetic lines and management programs the “greenest” and most sustainable in the pork industry! We are committed to the long-term success of the pork industry through the long-term profitability of our customers. We not only focus on economic viability but also on ultimate pork quality as well as environmental and ecological sustainability!

What is a green pig? A green pig at Truline Genetics has the following characteristics:

Excellent Feed Efficiency Efficient pigs utilize less feed and water reducing their impact on the environment and decreasing their “carbon footprint”. More efficiency means less manure and wastewater.

Rapid Growth Pigs that grow rapidly also utilize less total feed and other resources such as energy and fuel to get to market weight thus decreasing their “carbon footprint”. Rapid growth produces less manure and wastewater.

Extreme Maternal Efficiency Our maternal lines are selected for total performance...large litters, easy keeping sows, prompt rebreeding and excellent behavior. Sows are selected to thrive and function without special treatment. Our sows are easy to handle and comfortable in any production system.

Less Nitrogen and Phosphorus Better efficiency and diet design means less micronutrient excretion and less manure. Less manure results in less nitrogen and phosphorus produced as well as lower water consumption. These factors reduce our “carbon footprint”.

Better Care and Safety We are PQA Plus certified and follow strict animal handling protocols. This practice helps ensure the absolute health, safety and comfort of each pig, not to mention that of our valued employees and family members.

Research and Development Truline Genetics has instituted a program to advance our sustainability goals and to ensure we continue to produce the most efficient and environmentally friendly pork in the industry. We intend to be industry leaders in this effort to secure the competitiveness of our industry now and in the future.

Truline Genetics is celebrating over 50 years in the swine breeding business. We have placed our breeding pigs and genetics in 48 states, throughout North America, and worldwide in more than 25 countries.

Our vision and commitment is to genetic improvement through genetic change to meet the demands of today’s dynamic consumers in an ever-changing world!

These demands have dictated our growth and change over the past 50 years. We have moved from a single breed, to multiple breeds, to providing customized Truline Breeding Systems. Truline offers selection for specific, specialized genetics that will lead us into The Next Generation of Swine Breeding.

The Next Generation of Genetics at Truline will meet the demands of a consumer generation asking for:

Pork produced from more environmentally and animal friendly production systems. Higher quality pork products with “Old Fashion Taste and Tenderness” to provide an extraordinary eating experience.

Pork products free of antibiotics and produced on a non-animal by-product diet.

Pork products ethically produced, socially responsible, and committed to a “greener” environment.

Truline Genetics is committed to genetic lines selected for Nature’s Pork. Truline’s “greener” genetics provide the world’s “greenest” pigs producing the “greenest” pork, for the next and “greenest” generation.

The Next Generation of Truline Genetics has been selected to meet these demands!

Green Ham and Eggs

The World Pork Expo in Des Moines, IA was amazing this year. It wasn’t that there was any new unveiling that was just tremendous but the character of the United States farmer/rancher was evident. In a year that will not generate one dollar of profit for pork producers, attitudes were great. Producers are still seeking the newest and best way of converting natural resources into human consumable products. Without a doubt, 2008 will be one of the years when that age-old saying rings true: What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. Anyone who is still in the pig business for World Pork Expo 2009 will be in a tremendous position. One issue we must address is that we often talk about the efficiency of the U.S. farmer but we don’t put it in layman’s terms so that the non-farm person understands what we are talking about.

Word spread pretty fast around the fairgrounds that there was a green pig at the show. Yes, a green pig. Not a genetically engineered green pig but rather a pig right out of the Trent Loos play book of making your point, a pig dyed green. Everett Forkner from Richards, MO and his 50-year-old Truline Genetics company found a way to get the attention of the non-farm attendees that made it to Des Moines. He dyed a Yorkshire gilt green. The tactic worked as he lured in Jane Wells from CNBC who was on hand from Los Angeles. They broadcast a national story about the green pig at the World Pork Expo.

Everett encouraged me to endorse the green movement. “For generations American farmers and ranchers have implemented the best in environmental stewardship and animal care but we haven’t explained it properly.” He believes that today’s food production in the U.S. is very “green” but those sentiments are not held by others around the world. I would add that it is high time we find a way to tell this story because for the past year and half every airport conversation I’ve entered into includes concerns about the climate because of the impact from meat production. People have not refrained from eating meat because of it but are beginning to feel guilty because they do eat meat.

In an interview, Everett mentioned that we are more efficient with our natural resources than we have ever been. He indicated that in his life time in pork production the efficiency of producing a pound of pork has gone from 4 pounds of feed per pound of gain to just under 3 pounds of feed. Yes, that is a 25% improvement but when we explain it in that manner it doesn’t mean a thing to the average soccer mom. So check this out.

In the United States we produce 100 million pigs per year. Each pig gains an average of 250 pounds of body weight. For the sake of my cowboy arithmetic, I will round numbers to make my point. Thanks to confined animal feeding facilities, improved genetics and preventive health care systems, it now takes one pound less feed to produce a pound of pork. That savings in feed is 250 pounds of feed per pig times 100 million pigs raised annually equates to 450 million fewer bushels of corn each year to feed the same number of pigs. In the United States, we yield an average of roughly 150 bushels of corn per acre planted, which means the same number of efficient pigs are fed with 3 million fewer acres of land.

Until now I have been reluctant to endorse the “green” movement because it typically carries with it the concept that humans are solely to blame for global warming. I think Everett Forkner has proven that it is beneficial for us to endorse the green movement but if and only if we are each willing to dye our pig green to make a point. While we may not need to dye all of our pigs green, the above scenario explains to anyone how the efficiency of the United States agricultural system is the best in the world. Wait! I think we may have just proven that the grass is greener on this side of the fence, but if we don’t close the gate before all of the food producers get out, it won’t matter!

By Trent Loos
Loos Tales
Trent@loostales.com
Feature article “High Plains Journal” June 16, 2008

Commentary for Farms.com

I saw a lot of good ideas and some really great applications of equipment for the pork industry at the 2008 World Pork Expo. But one of the best ideas combined a lot of programs together into what Everett Forkner calls “The Greenest Pig”. While Truline Genetics is looking at this from the standpoint of an early adopter for financial gain, it is clearly something that the entire industry should implement. Years ago, while on staff at National Pork Producers Council and then at the National Pork Board, I was involved in many discussions on the concept of a Professional Pork Producer or Gold Pork Producer concept. In fact years ago John Adams and his colleagues in North Carolina implemented something similar in their Eastern Pork concept.

The idea is to incorporate all the industry programs, each significant in their own right, into one overarching program. Everett calls it “the Greenest Pig” capitalizing on the national movement commonly referred to as the green revolution. This movement is gaining momentum at breakneck speed. This makes me think that while we had a great idea back 10-15 years ago, it was clearly before its time. However, I agree with Everett that the time has arrived.

In an unprecedented move, NPPC and the National Pork Board together announced a new program at the WPX called “We Care”. This new effort is aimed at improving the image of pork production by taking a proactive stance on the ethical principles driving modern pork producers. The program commits producers to a program of social responsibility.
Everett’s program not only commits to the “We Care” program but also identifies about every other interest of the green movement including environmental stewardship, through the environmental management system and the use of a comprehensive nutrient management plan. He claims natural production, antibiotic free selection, genetic disease resistance, premium pork quality, extended longevity, and optimum productivity. He says that his green pigs reduces the carbon footprint, an idea that is gaining much momentum. His sows are given optimum care and welfare in his system which emphasizes extreme maternal efficiency where sows are selected to thrive and function without special treatment. Of course, PQA Plus is a standard part of this program with its animal welfare and handling implications.

This idea is something the entire industry needs to adopt establishing pork producers as the premier guardians of the animals in their care and of the environment which they impact. All this would help position pork very positively in the minds of consumers. Who knows…maybe we will market The Other White Meat from the Greenest Pigs!

By David Meisinger
Pork Center of Excellence
Ames, Iowa
Commentary Article-Farms .Com June 10, 2008