The 18th Annual World Pork Expo runs June 8 through the 10th this year, and will have some new features for visitors, exhibitors and producers alike. Jill Appell, a pork producer and grain farmer from Altona, Illinois, is President-Elect of the National Pork Producers Council. She says 500 exhibitors should be at the trade show. She says there’ll be the Marketing Information Center as always, and things everybody always looks forward to like the Pig Races, and the Merchandise Shop where you can buy things to take home.
The Swine Show is another tradition, as is the “Pig-Casso” Art Show, lunch at the Big Grill, and the farm-toy show and sale. New for this year is the World Pork Expo Environmental Center, giving producers information about crop nutrient value, byproducts, the environmental regulations they’re having to deal with and other topics they may want to ask about.
Also new will be an information and registration area called “I.D. Alley.” It’s to register your “premise,” or farm, in case of some outbreak of animal disease, to permit the animals to be traced back to where they came from within 48 hours. The registration system for livestock farms will be done through the states, and in most states you can register for your premise ID on the Internet. There’s also going to be a pork industry job fair and career center, as well as the usual seminars. The World Pork Expo is June 8 through the 10th at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.