Pork has been selling well at the retail level in recent months, which is a trend that Tim Stroda, president and CEO of the Kansas Pork Association, calls a nice surprise.
“Believe it or not, when you look at the prices, we’re moving very well. That’s been a little surprising to some folks,” Stroda told the Kansas Ag Network. “Some of our competitive meats are higher than normal in the grocery store and ours have moved along with those competitors. It is still going out the door rather well for us.”
Bacon craze helping pork industry
Despite higher prices for pig and pork products, Stroda said bacon’s recent surge in popularity has been a big boost to the pork industry.
“We enjoy that. That has helped us along there a little bit. Bellies are in a price range that it makes promotion of bacon very good for us right now,” said Stroda.
PEDv has affected pork supply, but not demand
While porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus has had an adverse effect on pig inventories and subsequently the supply of pork since it first was detected in the United States in 2013, Stroda said concerns over the virus have not hurt the demand for pork at all.
“That was our very first message that went out on this is that pork is safe to eat. This is a production issue. It’s not a meat quality issue or a meat safety issue, and that message was received very well,” he said.
