The Nebraska Pork Producers Association has been busy promoting the pork industry across the state. Staff, board members, and mentoring students have spent many hours educating consumers about the benefits of incorporating lean pork into a healthy diet, have taught urban and rural students about the differences and similarities between kids and pigs at county Ag Fests, have tested high school FFA members knowledge about the industry at State Convention - this is just a glimpse of the work they've done!
Mentor Jessica Barncastle helped teach nearly 400 students from Kearney schools how pigs grow, how we care for our pigs and allowed students to pet an actual pig! Life on the Farm-Kearney is an unique event since it has a permanent spot on the calendar for Kearney Public Schools and fits the requirement for 3rd grade curriculum.
Karen Buettner helped present information to 650 students from the Grand Island school systems about how pigs grow, during Grand Island Chamber Ag Day. Additionally, age appropriate educational materials were provided for each student to take home and for teachers to take back to their classrooms.
NPPA participated in the Agriculture Awareness Festival in Mead, providing the opportunity for youth to take a close-up look at pork production. The four-day festival is specifically for 4th grade students attending urban schools in Omaha, Lincoln and surrounding areas. Information about swine vocabulary and growth was presented 32 times, reaching more than 800 students. To date, more than 10,000 students have attended the festival.
Similarly, Custer and Dawson County Extension hosts Ag Fest in Broken Bow and Lexington to create awareness of the importance of agriculture in people’s lives. This year nearly 750 4th and 5th grade students experienced hands on learning at Ag Fest. Mat, a mentoring student helped teach students about the pork industry in a fun and interactive way by using a spinning prize wheel. Students learned about pork basics, pork byproducts, the health benefits of eating pork, and general fun pork trivia.
State FFA is an exciting time of year for 3,500 FFA members, parents, and guests. NPPA provided a promotional booth during convention. Members of the mentoring class and staff manned the booth during the 3 day event. FFA students stopped to spin the prize wheel and answered questions corresponding to where the spinner landed. Each student was encouraged to apply to be a part of NPPA Pork Mentoring Program.
The mentoring students met and visited some important and influential members of Nebraska’s Legislative body. Students met Sen. Erdman – Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Sen. Stuthman – District 22, Trent Nowka – NPPA Lobbyist, Chauncey Brown – Page, and Justin Brady – Radcliffe and Associates to learn more about the Nebraska Legislature, policies and issues facing agriculture and the pork industry, as well as, special and unique information about the State Capitol.
The mentoring students attended the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa. They participated in National Pork Board’s State Intern Training, toured the offices of NPB, were trained in Neighbor to Neighbor and completed their PQA Plus Certification.
Allied member, Keith Kinley with Advanced Agri-Direct, of York, spoke with the group about having goals and utilizing their talents. The group was present for the unveiling of a new feeder/water from Advanced Agri Direct while on the fairgrounds. They also met industry folks, and were fortunate to join in a luncheon provided by National Pork Producers Council with guest speaker Chuck Conner, Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The mentoring students and other volunteers helped make the Pork Chop Scramble a huge success. Mentoring students and volunteers manned holes, operated games/contests, and helped raise money for youth scholarships.
Mentoring students and numerous producer volunteers gave over 200 pounds of delicious pork loin samples to baseball fans in Lincoln during the first ever NPPA Trailer B event. Trailer B is an exciting mobile marketing tool that helps pork producers and volunteers connect with consumers while trying the tasty samples of pork. Baseball fans also tested their knowledge of pork trivia and putted with Pete the Pig.
Mentoring students took tickets and served food to 220 special guests at the V.I.P. Tent during Ribfest and the Live Auction. Ribfest serves as a fundraising event for the Strategic Investment Program. This money allows NPPA to work on regulation and legislation that affects agriculture and the Nebraska pork industry.
Mentoring students helped welcome and direct 2000 4-H and FFA members and their families to an appreciation BBQ for Nebraska’s agriculture Youth. The BBQ was sponsored by the Nebraska Soybean Board and the Nebraska Pork Producers Association.