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Producers still needed for pig environmental footprint project


October 8, 2018  by University of Minnesota Extension

Want to know more about your environmental footprint? Get additional information about operational costs? University of Minnesota Extension specialist, Erin Cortus and extension educators, Diane DeWitte, Jason Ertl, and Sarah Schieck are looking to work with producers in confidentially assessing their own operations using The Pig Production Environmental Footprint Calculator – a tool developed with support from and maintained by the National Pork Board.
Pork producers have made tremendous strides in productivity – as measures like pigs weaned per sow and live weight marketed per ton of feed and per pig space continue to improve.

These measures of productivity serve the industry well, but consumers increasingly want to hear more about how the pork they enjoy eating makes productive use of limited resources, like energy, water and land. An ‘environmental footprint’ flips the point of view around to consider how much of a limited resource is used to produce a live pig or a pound of pork.

Do you know how your operation stands in terms of its carbon, water and land footprints? Are there changes in your operation that you’ve made or are considering that you’d like to evaluate in this way?

We’d like to visit with you to discuss what’s involved and logistics for participating in this National Pork Board-supported project that we’re jointly conducting with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Contact one of us by phone or email to initiate the conversation:

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You can also find out additional information and register directly online at: z.umn.edu/SwineFootprint2018.

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