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July Herdsire 2007 Issue
Planning - it's not optional
by Darrell Anderson
“The beauty of not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise and is not preceded by any period of anxiety.”
Sitting at the National Pedigreed Livestock Council meeting in Denton, Texas, last month, I heard this quote, and I think it fits well for many aspects of our industry today.
If we don’t plan for success in our industry, we may not be aware of the failure that creeps up on us.
It could be a series of small failures that ultimately leads to a massive failure for our industry to compete with other protein choices. With high-priced feed and other challenges facing us, we must produce genetics that excel for the entire industry. That’s our job!
I truly believe that the NSR, through its nationwide network of members and support of the NJSA, has an awesome, challenging role in creating awareness and passion for the hog industry.
But, we cannot do it alone. As more consumers are further removed from their agricultural roots, everyone in the industry needs to plan on spreading a positive, educational message.
If we don’t plan to combat all of the outside sources that want to tell us how to run our business, we could be blindsided by failure.
The industry recently experienced a failure due to a lack of planning at a county fair in California – the elimination of a livestock exhibition. Yes, you read that correctly. And, I’m sure you are as shocked right now as I was when I first heard this news.
It seems that The Valley Fair, which was held in the San Fernando Valley, was relocated to a new site in Santa Clarita, Calif., for financial reasons. According to the local fair board, they simply could not afford to have the necessary facilities required to house livestock at the fair.
I can assure you that I never thought I would live long enough to witness the elimination of livestock at any county fair. After all, the county fair originated with the concept that it would provide the community with the opportunity to participate in various competitions to improve their quality of produce – from apple pies to champion boars.
As I mentioned last month, the county fair is one of the greatest Americana experiences left in this country. It is one of the best opportunities we still have available to us today to showcase our industry to the general public. The activities at the county fair are often the only real-life exposure that consumers removed from agriculture have to see what we are all about.
Surely, the fair board, with a little planning and support from livestock exhibitors, could have located funds to cover the facility costs.
Another story currently circulating out of California involves the death of a stress pig at a county fair. While the investigation is still being conducted, the fact that this pig’s death made front-page news coverage is a black eye for all of us. We need to spread our message at this public venue, but we also need to plan on not overexposing ourselves.
One reality you can all plan on: Someone is watching over your shoulder, so be sure you do not place yourselves or your children in a position to create negative publicity for our industry.
There are judges who have chosen to move our selection target to a more-balanced, more-functional type of hog. And, I support them. I think this trend will go a long way toward eliminating the stress hogs from dying at county fairs and causing bad press.
This trend will also help us to improve some of the image problems we’ve created, as the commercial hog industry believed we moved too far in the selection for big-topped, big-butted hogs. We don’t have enough folks in our industry to alienate any segment.
We must also plan to reach out to the young people who will become the leaders, breeders, scientists and researchers of tomorrow. I was recently told that the number of land-grant colleges offering swine-production curriculums has been cut in half during the last 10 years and will possibly be reduced by half again within the next five years. If we don’t mentor these young people, who will?
Don’t let failure creep up on you or come as a surprise. Make time to plan for today, tomorrow and years down the road. It’s just not an option anymore.
