HFC - Meating In the Middle

Ben Rice - Prairie Land Dairy 

I realize this is two days late, nonetheless, here is the recap. Husker Food Connection, is actually a registered student organization on campus, but we just had our big event of the year. Meating in the Middle - was a way to connect students with where their food comes from. People are four generations removed from the farm today, so it is more important than ever to educate consumers with the correct information. HFC partnered with several companies to help sponsor the food and information packets that were handed out. We had a chicken, two baby pigs, a dairy cow and calf, a steer, and a tractor, along with a free meal!
One of the highlight attractions was the dairy cow and baby calf that Prairie Land Dairy brought. In addition to being a sponsor for the lunch, they were also there to represent the dairy industry.

12 week old piglet 

In addition to the dairy cow and calf, there we a couple baby pigs there as well. I'll admit, that I'm not much of a pig person, but I do love me some bacon! 

Milking Cow

One of the neat resources we had available to us, (HFC planning committee) was the "Milking Cow". This is a station where participants could learn how to milk a cow. When her udder gets empty, you can recycle the water back in through a port in the top. It was fun getting to teach students, even some Husker Football players, how to milk a cow. 

John Deere prototype tractor 

It wouldn't be a proper "Ag Day" without a tractor there! This is one from the tractor test lab here on campus! 

My favorite part of #HFC14 was getting to talk to students on campus about agriculture and why we do what we do. I was surprised by how open students were willing to be with the mis-conceptions about ag. This gave us the opportunity to help guide them in the right direction. Here are some of my favorite facts that I got to share with students: 

-Nebraska is the Beef State, meaning we have more cattle on feed than Texas, despite how much bigger they are than us. 

-In Nebraska, cattle out number people 4 to 1.

-It would take 7 cups of raw broccoli to equal the calcium found in one glass of milk!

-A dairy cow can produce 120 cups of milk a day!

-White eggs and brown eggs have the exact same nutritional value. 

Feel free to share these with all your friends too! 

*Little side note, the posters that you see displayed in these pictures were designed by me! 

PEDV: It's impacts on the industry

This next post was a topic requested by a reader. PEDV – Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus hit the United States hard around May 13 of last year. I’ll preface with saying that PEDV does not affect the safety of pork meat. Since 2013 cases have been on the decline, however researchers are discovering that there is a second strain emerging. What does this mean for the pork industry or the animal industry as a whole? As usual, HSUS had taken full advantage of this unfortunate happening, and shed a negative light on the situation. Due to their somewhat large following, they have created a roadblock for the industry as they try to educate consumers about PEDV. PEDV is a highly contagious disease that is impacting both young and old pigs, however younger pigs have a decreased chance of survival. Pig producers are  doing everything they can to prevent the spread of this, however due to its nature, this is not an easy task. Because so little is known about this, it is hard to know how to combat it. According to Genesus: “Although PEDV and TGEV viruses are related and the clinical signs are very similar, there is no immune corss-protection. In the event of a PEDV outbreak, currently the best means of protection comes from aggressive bio-feedback. The primary goal is to ensure that every animal on the farm in infected as soon as possible. Bio-feedback includes fecal material and intestinal tracts from acutely infected piglets.” It is no surprise that this is the angle that animal activist groups have chosen to highlight, however it is critical to keep things in perspective. For many, increased bio-security is the best plan of attack. Constant washing of feed trucks, vehicles coming on and off the premises, and making sure that workers are cleaning and disinfecting their boots and clothes.

Ask yourself this question: How willing are you to give up the bacon on your bacon cheeseburger, or the bacon that goes with your eggs and toast in the morning? What about a BBQ pork sandwich, or the Christmas ham? PEDV has impacted the overall number of pigs in the United States, meaning that numbers are declining. It’s a simple supply and demand system; supply of the product is down and demand is remaining the same or increasing meaning an increase in the price that consumers are going to pay for the product.

What can you do? Be patient and understanding as the industry works on a way to combat PEDV, and keep in mind that swine farmers are doing everything to ensure that the animals welfare and overall well-being is of first priority.