Nearly 500 commercial exhibitors will display new technology and pig products at the World Pork Expo 2012 trade show in Des Moines, Iowa, June 6-8. The Expo, sponsored by the National Pork Producers Council, is the world’s largest pig meat-specific trade show, and annually attracts pig producers, agribusiness representatives and pig meat-industry enthusiasts from around the globe.
Tours offered
Attendees who want to experience Midwest agriculture and hospitality will have the opportunity to take part in pre-Expo tours offered on Monday and Tuesday before the World Pork Expo.
On the two-day tour, June 4-5, participants will see the locks-and-dam system that enables agricultural products to traverse the Mississippi River, and the world’s most comprehensive agricultural exhibit at the John Deere Pavilion museum. The group also will visit Cinnamon Ridge Farms, which feature 4,000 acres of corn and soybeans, wean-to-finish swine facilities, a beef operation and a dairy.
For those with limited schedules, two one-day tours are available. On Monday, tour participants will go to one of the Midwest’s largest food-distribution companies, a Christensen Farms feed mill and the newly remodeled Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. The Tuesday-only tour features stops at Swine Genetics International’s boar-reproduction facility and Pioneer Hi-Bred, a leading developer and supplier of advanced plant genetics.
To register for a tour, go to www.worldpork.org and click on the “producer registration” button. The two-day tour is $300 per person, including transportation, four meals and overnight accommodations. Expo-goers can participate in either one-day tour for $125.
Various activities
Featured activities at the expo will include the New Product Tour, where pig producers can see new products, services and technologies; and educational seminars covering trade, pig health, market opportunities and other topics of interest to pig meat producers. The swine breeding stock shows will begin on Friday, June 8, and sales will take place on Saturday.
The main social event of the expo, MusicFest, will start Thursday at 4:30 p.m. on the Grand Concourse.
“From the debut of new equipment that improves pig welfare and performance, to well-known entertainers performing at MusicFest, everything is world-class at World Pork Expo,” said R.C. Hunt, National Pork Producers Council president from Wilson, N.C. “Before and after continuing your education at business seminars, you’ll see the very latest technology on display in the trade show. Add in great food and hospitality, and you’ll have a first-rate experience along with outstanding ideas to take back home.”
