The 2014 incarnation of the World Pork Expo gets underway in Des Moines Wednesday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and runs through Friday. This annual event brings together pork producers, exhibitors and visitors not just from across Iowa, but also from throughout the nation. Among the 20,000 to 30,000 people the Expo is expected to draw will be a great many pork producers and pork industry professionals from abroad. In 2013, there were attendees from 39 countries.

Educational and marketing programs will appeal to many of those who attend this important pork industry event. For others, the more than 400 commercial exhibits will be the draw. The Expo also offers ample opportunities for recreation and camaraderie.

“If you’re shopping for new products and technologies; want the latest information on production management, legislative issues and markets; or are looking to exchange ideas with pork producers and other professionals, World Pork Expo is the event for you,” said Alicia Newman, World Pork Expo’s general manager, in a statement previewing the 2014 show.

The NPPC, an entity that conducts public outreach on behalf of 44 affiliated state organizations, owns the Expo and orchestrates this popular show. The organizers say this is the largest pork-industry trade show in the world.

At a time when a still sluggish, but improving, economy is of concern to many Iowans, the Expo offers a particularly welcome opportunity to learn more about the pork industry’s future.

It’s unlikely that anyone who lives in Iowa does not already know that pork production is exceptionally important to the economic vitality of the Hawkeye State. It may come as a surprise, however, that hogs raised in Iowa account for more than 30 percent of U.S. hog production. Iowa ranks as the nation’s top hog-producing state.

The following statistical highlights derived from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2007 U.S. Census of Agriculture and analysis by Spencer Parkinson of Decision Innovation and experts at Iowa State University underline just how major a factor pork production is to Iowa’s prosperity:

The Iowa pork industry generates more than 39,000 jobs,

The industry’s Iowa payroll is nearly $1 billion annually and

The overall annual economic impact on Iowa of pork production is about $5 billion.

These statistics provide a glimpse of this massive agricultural industry. The World Pork Expo, which this year is celebrating its 26th anniversary, offers an exceptional opportunity to learn a great deal more.

The Messenger congratulates NPPC on more than quarter century of remarkable expositions.