News from the National Pork Board
 Youth PQA program launched
The Pork Checkoff now has a new Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) program
speci-fically for the nation's pork producers who are 9 to 18 years of age. The program
is designed to help assure the safety and wholesomeness of the food products
that youth produce through their 4-H and National FFA Organization projects.
All youth certified in the PQA Level III program will continue to be certified
until their certification expires. They will then need to certify in the new Youth PQA
program to remain current. The program will focus on the same 10 good
production practices; however, the content of the
good production practices must be reviewed each year, while a portion of the PQA
materials may be taught in depth. The Youth PQA program is designed so that all good
production practices are covered in depth over a 3-year period.
The Youth PQA program includes interactive and exploratory learning activities
targeted for youth. Materials include tips on how to conduct a youth quality
assurance program, technical support for the Youth PQA program, and optional program
ideas and suggestions. These activities include a food continuum puzzle and an ear
notching exercise, with other information on record keeping. On the technical
side, these optional program ideas include much information on proper use of
animal health-care products, including use of needles and how hazard analysis and
critical control points relate to food safety.
Also, fact sheets are available on current issues, and complementary topics will
add variety to the annual youth education program. Current fact sheets include
topics such as ethics in youth livestock programs and food safety. For example, the fact
sheet on food safety includes information about the food supply continuum and
explains how many of the steps that pork producers take to improve pork safety also are
beneficial to swine health.
Information regarding the new Youth PQA program can be found online
at www.porkboard.org. A PQA manual, a list of minimum standards for the Youth
PQA program, and key learning objectives are among the many materials included.
PQA certification extended to three-year program
Pork producers certified in Level III PQA now will remain certified for 3 years,
an extension from the previous certification period of 2 years. The change comes as
part of the restructuring of the program,
including Youth PQA. All producers over the age of
18 will be granted an additional year to their current certification. New certificates
will be issued to producers prior to expiration of their current certification. For more
information, contact the National Pork Board at
800-456-PORK.
Unified Research Review held
The Pork Checkoff held its annual Unified Research Review in Des Moines, Iowa,
in February. The Pork Checkoff's producer committees reviewed 106 proposals to
receive Checkoff funding. The National Pork Board approved a budget to allocate
more than $850,000 in competitive research grants for 2004, in addition to
targeted research funding.
The committees, including Swine Health, Pork Safety, and Animal Welfare and
Environment, selected a total of 22 projects. These were submitted to the board for
review and approval for funding. Investigators were notified in March and they
will receive funding beginning in May. Priorities for 2004 include
environment/on-farm; environment/public health;
swine health, including porcine respiratory disease complex, circovirus-associated
diseases, breeding herd syndromes, and
biosecurity; animal welfare topics, such as sow
gestation housing, sow longevity, and space
requirements; and antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial production enhancers.
A complete listing of research priorities is available at
www.porkboard.org in the research section.
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