Prestage Farms Veterinarian New VP for National Pork Producers Council

Dr. Ron Prestage, DVM, a pork producer from Camden, S.C has been elected to the post of vice president for the National Pork Producers Council. He was elected for a one-year term at NPPC’s annual business meeting over the weekend.

Prestage, who has served on the NPPC board of directors for the past three years, is part of the family-owned Prestage Farms, which includes hogs, turkeys, cattle and cropland for hay. He’s primarily responsible for the sows and turkeys on the farms in South Carolina and the swine operation in Mississippi. Dr. Howard Hill, a pork producer and veterinarian from Cambridge, Iowa, was elected to the post of president-elect, and Randy Spronk, a pork producer from Edgerton, Minn., was elevated to the post of president for NPPC.

The National Pork Board also last weekend and were inspired by new market challenges and new opportunities to boost its domestic marketing budget. With pork producers facing high feed costs – National Pork Board President Conley Nelson says it is important to keep pork moving through the marketplace…

“We approved $3 million to push domestic marketing and push product to the market and get it sold.”

Nelson says this investment is designed to build momentum for pork during the summer grilling season. The Pork Checkoff is also working to change the terms used for pork in the meatcase…

“We want to change the nomenclature of the pork cuts so its more aligned with what people are familiar with.”

Applications Now Being Accepted for Commissioner’s School for Ag
 

Rising high school juniors and seniors interested in attending this year's South Carolina Commissioner's School for Agriculture (SCCSA), held at ClemsInterested students can visit agriculture.sc.gov to download the application. Just look for Commissioner’s School under Hot Topics.on University, can go online now to download their application. The application needs to be postmarked by Tuesday, April 16.