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World Pork Expo is worth a look

Event ranks as the world’s largest pork industry trade show

The 2021 incarnation of the World Pork Expo gets under way in Des Moines today 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. More than 20,000 people are expected to attend. Visitors from 50 nations have come to the Expo in the past, giving it a truly international following.

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. There will be 700 booth in the trade show. The Expo also offers ample opportunities for recreation and camaraderie.

The National Pork Producers Council, 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.

The Expo offers a particularly welcome opportunity to learn more about the pork industry’s future and its importance to the Hawkeye State.

It’s unlikely that anyone who lives in Iowa does not already know that pork production is exceptionally important to the economic vitality of our 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.

According to the Iowa Pork Producers Association:

• Iowa has more than 5,400 pig farms.

• Pork production contributes more than $13 billion to the Iowa economy each year.

• There are 147,105 jobs assocated with the pork industry.

• Annual Iowa pork exports were valued at more than $2.1 billion in 2018, the last full year for which statistics are readily available.

These statistics underline just how major a factor pork production is to Iowa’s prosperity.

The World Pork Expo offers an exceptional opportunity to learn a great deal more.

The Messenger congratulates National Pork Producers Council on more than a quarter century of remarkable expositions.

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