I got this email with a website link on it and a simple message: Thought you might find this interesting.
Les
Well, I was interested...very interested. So interested, in fact, that I think it needs to be shared with anyone and everyone that cares about both pig farming and a healthy environment. The PorkCheckoff funded some research to evaluate whether or not pig farming has improved over the years and to see what areas needed further improvment.
The research shows that pork production is more sustainable now than ever before. The first sentence of this article was fantastic and it sums up what we've been trying to tell everyone from the beginning:
"A new study finds that while pig farms of the 1950s may be remembered as idyllic, they were not as sustainable as those of today."
The study found that today's hog farms have decreased their carbon footprint by 35 percent since 1959. Additionally, we (hog farmers) use 41 percent less water and 78 percent less land per pound of pork produced. That is a huge accomplishment in farming! We are able to produce more while using less and protecting our envirnment.
We are still looking for ways to improve farming across the board but I think it is also important to celebrate our current accomplishments. This study shows just one of those accomplishments.
What do you think?
