From March 7-10, a group of 20 growers from Michigan potato farms participated in a four-day journey to strengthen their understanding of potato processing and issues affecting the snack food industry. Participants saw all stages of processing from receiving the potatoes, peeling, slicing and frying the potatoes to warehousing and distribution at various facilities.

“With 70% of Michigan’s potato production supplying chip manufacturers, this was an amazing opportunity for our growers to better understand how various characteristics of their potatoes affect the system,” says Mike Wenkel, executive director of the Michigan Potato Industry Commission.

UTZ TOUR: Michigan potato growers toured Utz Quality Foods, which began 1921 as a small-town kitchen in Hanover, Pa. Today, Utz is the largest independent, privately held snack brand in the United States, producing over 3.3 million pounds of snacks per week (about half of which are potato chips) while operating over 900 company-owned routes.

“Ultimately, we hope it will result in us delivering an even better product to our customers,” he adds. “We need to understand our customers’ challenges and look for ways to address those challenges if we can before our potatoes reach their facilities. To do that, our growers must understand the whole system. That was our goal for the trip.”

The tour included stops to BetterMade Snack Foods in Detroit; Shearer’s Foods in Massillon, Ohio; Utz Quality Foods in Hanover, Pa.; the Snyder’s-Lance pretzel bakery in Hanover, Pa.; Herr Foods in Nottingham, Pa.; E.K. Bare & Sons in Bird in Hand, Pa., and Keystone Potato Products in Hegins, Pa.

Michigan is the No. 1 state supplying potatoes to potato chip manufacturers. Approximately one in four bags of potato chips in the United States are made with Michigan potatoes.

2016 U.S. pork exports show impressive progress

At year-end 2016, U.S. pork exports showed impressive progress following a challenging 2015. In 2016, 5.1 billion pounds of pork and pork variety meats valued at $5.94 billion were exported, up 8% and 7% respectively from 2015, according to the USDA.

“We saw a strong 2016 for U.S. pork exports, but we still face challenges with increased global competition and a stronger U.S. dollar,” says Becca Nepple, vice president of international marketing for the pork checkoff. “The checkoff is committed to bolstering its partnership with international customers through additional funding of in-country promotions of U.S. pork with the U.S. Meat Export Federation.”

“On average, U.S. pork and pork variety meat exports accounted for 25.8% of total pork production in 2016,” says Mary Kelpinski, CEO of Michigan Pork Producers Association. “Export value returned an average $50.20 per head back to producers, and during 2016, more than 100 countries around the world imported U.S. pork.”

The top five markets by volume were Mexico (1.61 billion pounds), China and Hong Kong (1.21 billion pounds), Japan (854.8 million pounds), Canada (452.2 million pounds) and Central and South America (299.7 million pounds).

The top five markets by value were Japan ($1.56 billion), Mexico ($1.355 billion), China and Hong Kong ($1.075 billion), Canada ($798.5 million) and Korea ($365.1 million).

With more pork available in the U.S., the National Pork Board recently approved an increase of 12.7% in funding for 2017 export market activities. This financial commitment translates into tangible marketing activities that increase U.S. pork exports to emerging and developing markets.

According to Nepple, promotions and marketing activities will focus on displacing other proteins and global competitors and on promoting larger pork cuts.

For information on checkoff-funded programs, pork producers can call the Pork Checkoff Service Center at 800-456-7675 or check the internet at pork.org.

Director candidates needed for soybean board

The Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee is seeking director candidates from District 1 (Berrien, Branch, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties) and District 3 (Lenawee, Livingston, Monroe, Washtenaw and Wayne counties). Interested candidates must be soybean farmers in order to apply. Responsibilities include about eight in-state meetings per year, and the position is a governor-appointed three-year term. This is a great leadership development opportunity for farmers looking to become more involved in the soybean industry, according to Gail Frahm, executive director of the committee. Interested candidates should contact Frahm at [email protected] or 989-652-3294. The application deadline is June 30.