Pork 101 – by Greg
A special thanks to the PA Pork producers, Pork Checkoff, American Meat Science Association, and the awesome folks at Penn State Extension and Meat Science for sponsoring me to attend their Pork 101 workshop this past week.
With their scholarship funding, I was able to spend 3 days with national industry professionals talking about the current state of the pork market, learning the intricacies of how pork is produced, graded, priced, harvested, and transformed into the deliciousness that is the world’s most consumed protein. I was clearly the odd-ball, organic-pasture-raised, acorn fed, never-on-concrete, non-gmo, direct market farmer. Most other attendees were in the processing side of the industry, many of which were actual meat cutters in training!
We got a chance to discuss key issues like the bullsh*t claims that are allowed to be made on labels, especially the scam of claiming ‘no nitrate’ with celery/beet/chard ingredients. As well, the Pros joked about a few failed marketing campaigns to overcome the demonization of Lard and pork as ‘the other white meat’. Despite the misperceptions, the United States is the worlds largest pork EXPORTER, and it was eye opening to see how various cuts are produced for specific global markets.
It was hard for me to understand the scale of production. Processing plants harvest and produce 1200 animals an HOUR. Trailer trucks haul 170 animals at a time from barns which house 2000-5000 animals. We raise around 80 hogs a year and sell off another 30 to local growers who want a few hogs to raise over the summer…. That’s not even a single batch for a plant! Our friend, Kevin Jarosinski, who hauls our pigs to market takes only 6 at a time.
Most interestingly, I learned that the final 12 hours of life, the last trip on the trailer, and the short walk to the abattoir are the most critical times, where stress can dramatically change the meat quality. And Secondly, I learned the process of sausage production, and the importance of those final moments in how the pork will react with salt and spices to become the sausages and bacon!
While I came home with dreams of building a small butcher shop here at the farm to create our own sausages, we are still a ways away yet. With our new pavilions and hopefully an increase in the number of hogs we can raise each season, maybe we can get a little closer to making a dent in the regional pork supply and continue to help others to feed our neighbors the best proteins we can grow.
Veggie packages are still available. It’s amazing how many vegetables we’re still harvesting: cabbage, kohlrabi, arugula, chard, and radishes. We also have lots of crops in storage – peppers, garlic, and delicata squash!
We’re opening the doors for Farm Club – and now’s the time to throw your name into the hat. We’re just taking an open registration (no down payment required) – just so we can get an idea of how many people are going to participate.
