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last update:Oct 31, 2008
Niche markets offer opportunities for pork
More and more consumers, no longer content to eat
conventional pork, are looking to purchase meat developed through more selective
niche markets.
In response, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension is helping pork
producers learn more about niche markets, said Richard Ness, extension educator
focusing on niche pork. In general, niche pork markets require a fatter pig than
is grown in conventional systems, giving it a different eating quality, he
said.
Consumer demand
"The growth in the alternative
swine production systems comes from consumer demand for alternatives to
commodity pork products," Ness said. "These are consumers who have different
values that they want met by the pork products they buy."
The niche or designer pork industry is based on creating a different
product before the animal reaches the processing plant, Ness said. These
differences include giving the animal no antibiotics, hormones or animal
by-products, not confining it in gestation or farrowing crates, and following
animal welfare recommendations.
For many people, pork developed through niche markets represents quality,
Ness said. “Niche pork is not going to take over the pork industry. But there
are a lot of people who read 'bon appetit' magazine and shop at Whole Foods
Market. It's a certain segment of the population but they're serious about where
their food comes from,” he added
Niman ranch
Most of Nebraska's niche pork farmers sell their animals to Niman Ranch, a
niche food business that has a pork processing plant in western Iowa. Klint
Stewart, Nebraska's field agent for Niman, estimated there are about 40 active
niche pork farmers in the state who sell their pork to Niman.
Dean
Janousek of Clarkson, who has been raising hogs for about 30 years, is one of
them. Janousek said he wouldn't be in the business if it wasn't for the niche
pork market because it is the most profitable for a small 25-sow operation such
as his.
"If we didn't have this specific market I would not be raising
hogs," he said, explaining that he gets about 62 cents a pound for live hogs in
niche production as opposed to about 50 cents in the conventional
market.
Janousek refuses to use farrowing crates for his 25 sows,
believing that his animals need room to stand up and lay down. He does not use
antibiotics and also raises the popular Berkshire breed, which he said has a
better flavour. "I get the satisfaction of raising some of the best pork in the
country," he said.
Value issue
Hog farmers get
involved in the niche pork industry for several reasons, Ness said. It is often
a value issue – they believe this is the proper way to raise pigs. Some have
raised their pigs this way for years and now they have a market for
it.
For others, niche markets usually provide a floor price for the hogs
which reduces the financial risk in a falling market, he said. Plus, the cost of
getting started raising pigs for niche markets is considerably less than
starting a conventional system because gestation crates and other equipment are
not needed. "This makes niche pork attractive to younger, beginning farmers,"
Ness said.
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