At the 2022 Oklahoma Pork Congress, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, had the chance to visit with the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Pork Council, Kylee Deniz. Hays and Deniz talked about the highlights of Pork Congress, state of the industry, and pork’s place in agriculture.
Deniz explained the importance of the Real Pork Campaign and the goal to provide a story for the Oklahoma pork industry and working with communities to put a face on the pork industry.
Having worked at the National Pork Board on the Real Pork campaign, Deniz said it was a natural fit when she came to the Oklahoma Pork Council to take all of the research, and economic impact and put a real face to it.
“My great team at the Oklahoma Pork Council grabbed ahold of that campaign and ran with it,” Deniz said. “It makes sense for a general consumer, it makes sense for an engaged citizen, it makes sense for a legislator to understand what our industry is, what we do, how we care about the community and the ways that we give back.”
Deniz said there are big plans for the campaign in the future including storytelling through video.
“We are doing it in an authentic and real way which I am proud of,” Deniz said.
Deniz said the council has four strategic intentions including the freedom to operate, storytelling, workforce, and foreign animal disease preparedness.
Ever since Seaboard became a major pork processor in the state of Oklahoma, over the years the commercial industry in Oklahoma has changed.
“We are known as the sow state,” Deniz said. “I think we are fifth in the country for total number of sows- about 450,000 sows.”
In Oklahoma, Deniz said there is not enough corn and beans to feed the pigs born in the state, so many of those are shipped to the upper Midwest where that feed is. From a disease perspective, she added, it makes sense to keep the genetic base healthy in the state of Oklahoma.
Deniz said sentiment in the pork industry is good and she applauded those in the agriculture industry for staying strong through the good and the bad times. The pork industry has an important role in agriculture, she added, and they are proud to provide a safe, consistent, and affordable product to U.S. consumers.
Deniz also talked about the 2022 Pork Congress.
"The first week of August, every year we call it ‘Pork Week’ here in Oklahoma and we are proud of that,” Deniz said. “We do a fun golf tournament the day before and then we move into the educational Pork Congress, which is filled with networking, still some fun, but a good opportunity to learn.”
Deniz said the 2022 Pork Congress started off with a speech from Governor Kevin Stitt.
“He is a great ally to agriculture and for him to make time to come to the Pork Congress and speak to about 200 pork producers and allied industry was really important and well received,” Deniz said.
After Governor Stitt spoke, Deniz said there was a foreign animal disease preparedness panel moderated by the Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture, Blayne Arthur.
“She has a national leadership role when it comes to things like African Swine Fever preparedness and response, so she moderated that panel and the panel included representatives and perspectives across the industry,” Deniz said.
Other speakers in the panel included hog producers and individuals within the industry such as Joe Locke with Seaboard Foods, Dr. Stephen Clifton with the Tyson pork group and assistant state veterinarian, Dr. Alicia Gorczyca-Southerland.
Deniz said awards were handed out at the awards luncheon and after that Gian Paul Gonzalez gave a keynote speech about being “all in”.
“There are so many folks who are against agriculture, against the way that animals are raised for food and Gian Paul brought a message with adjacent connections to how we do things in ag,” Deniz said. “But really inspiring people to be all in, in what they do every day whether it is being a great family member, a great member of a community or a great pork producer.”
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