A pig is a pig so advocating for pork producers in one country helps in other countries too.  
The president-elect of the National Pork Producers Council said under the organization’s new strategic plan, U.S. pork producers will see a more aggressive proactive approach representing issues ranging from Foreign Animal diseases to the Farm Bill. 
Scott Hays, a pork producer from Monroe City, Missouri said the planning process intended to set a new direction and gathered input from producers across the country. 
“Our strategic plan is to strengthen our advocacy, preserve producers’ license to operate, increase revenues to take care of the complex issues and make sure our association structure is right to move forward and to ensure the effectiveness of NPPC.” 
Hays hopes producers notice they are in front of more issues and more on offence. 
NPPC, by design, will always play a lot of defence because things just come their way. Also putting together things needed if unfortunately, that would enter the country. That’s from the farm level to working with governments, and trading partners, to cleaning it up and getting it out of here. 
“There are so many pieces and we’re trying to get all the things put in place ahead of time.” 
The president-elect for the NPPC said to look ahead at the farm bill or the nutritional standards and have the research done ahead of time, ready to advocate for producers and their needs.  
“There’s many opportunities to raise pigs and producers can look forward to a bright future.” 
Hays said the last strategic plan was five years old; it was time to set a new direction. So, while asking pig producers across the country to give their input, a task force put it together. 
Much has changed in the industry in his lifetime watching pigs go indoors as a kid, and then units and genetics became more standardized. 
With these standards and an excellent consistent product, a consumer goes to the grocery store confidently with what she wants and buys.  
NPPC has had to evolve to care for producers’ issues to keep trade flowing with other countries. 
“What’s unique to pork is the product mix and moving products we use less at home out to other countries. That keeps the products we enjoy like bacon and ribs at a lower cost for consumers in this country.” 
Trade isn’t only crucial to producers but to consumers in a changing environment with what the American public wants.  
Consumers in the U.S. want hog production to be more sustainable and environmentally. 
“We’ve done a great job for years and years but need to get better at telling our story, measuring some of those things and demonstrating what we have done.” 
The U.S. exports a little over a quarter of its product to a hundred countries worldwide, where twenty countries have free trade agreements with the U.S. and take the majority of that product. •
— By Harry Siemens  

In a letter from Cam Dahl, Manitoba Pork GM, he too references the importance of maintaining our relationship with the US. This a small portion of his letter from early June.
Relationships matter. This might sound like a cliché to some, but that does not make it any less true. Agriculture in Western Canada is dependent on trade. Maintaining our relationships with our partners in other countries is one of the most important things agriculture representatives do, and no relationship is more important than with our colleagues in the U.S. Are farmers and their associations doing enough to foster these relationships?
The U.S. is one of the most important customers for every sector of Western Canadian agriculture, including hog farmers, cattle ranchers, and grain producers. The U.S. is also one of our most important input suppliers. Take for example, hog producers in Manitoba. We ship almost 3.5 million animals to the U.S. every year. Annually, our processors export over $400 million of pork products south. Feed ingredients like soybean meal come north along with supplements important for animal health. This is why every twitch in the U.S. market or public policy change can feel a bit like an earthquake north of the 49th parallel.
Working together to tackle problems that are common to farmers on both sides of the border is basic common sense. It is clear from listening to our friends down south, such as our customers in Iowa or Minnesota, that we are facing similar issues like labour shortages or addressing the cyclical nature of international markets. Both Canadian and U.S. producers are facing uncertainty triggered by the war in Ukraine and ongoing supply chain disruptions caused by the global pandemic. Are there common policy approaches to these common disruptions? Our voices are amplified, and our chances of success strengthened, when we can approach our respective governments with common messages and “asks” that will help stabilize agriculture in both countries.
Canadian agriculture and political leaders have many opportunities for outreach with our U.S. counterparts. Now may be the most important time in decades to develop our relationships and common approaches, given pressures on modern agriculture, given growing protectionism around the world, and given increasing threats to the integrated North American market. Relationships do matter. •