Indiana Pork Annual Meeting and Taste of Elegance
Indiana Pork had a big day on Tuesday with their annual meeting earlier in the day and then the Taste of Elegance at the Indiana Roof Ballroom that evening. Indiana Pork Board of Directors President Joe Baldwin, of Wayne County, was reelected to his position during the annual meeting. I had the opportunity to discuss with him some concerns of pork producers in 2018. “One issue that’s just right on the cusp right now is the electronic logging devices for truckers. We don’t want our livestock haulers to have to make a decision between following an arbitrary time line versus the proper welfare of an animal.”
President Trump mentioned during his State of the Union address that from now on he expects trading relationships to be, “fair and, very importantly, reciprocal.” Baldwin says trade access to global markets is crucial. “Our industry relies on exports to a large degree, even to the extent of about $40 per animal. Continuing access to those markets, to be able to trade on an equal playing field, whether it be with NAFTA, KORUS (United States-Korean Free Trade Agreement), or on the bilateral agreements in the Asia Pacific region. All those are very important to us.”
At the annual meeting, Ted Hendrickson, a pork producer from Randolph County, and Greg Slipher, a Livestock Specialist with Indiana Farm Bureau, received Meritorious Service Awards. Chef Patrick MacWhorter from Oakleys Bistro in Indianapolis was the big winner at the Taste of Elegance. See other winners from the Taste of Elegance here.