The event is likely to provide a forum for discussion of global grain
supplies and rising feed prices.
With the nation’s grain market at
the epicentre of a global upheaval in pig feeding costs, this
year’s World Pork Expo could draw a considerable number of visitors from abroad.
The annual pig-sector show promises to
provide important updates on how the
supply/demand and price situation for feed
grains is likely to play out over the coming
months.
World Pork Expo is held every year on the
Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa.
It is hosted by the National Pork Producers
Council and is expected to receive around
30,000 visitors to see the exhibits of almost
500 companies.
This year the expo opens on Thursday,
June 5, and runs until Saturday, June 7.
Opening hours for its trade show on the first
two days are from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. The
show on the last day starts at 8 a.m. and
ends at 12 noon.
Focus on crop situation
“You can be sure we will be discussing
the world crop situation regarding corn
and soybeans and how this relates to feed
costs in general,” remarks expo general
manager John Wrigley. “Those discussions
will be taking place within the context of our
educational sessions on each of the first t wo
days of the show and they will certainly be at
the heart of many of the conversations that
are held on the stands of our exhibitors. The
focus at World Pork Expo this year has to be
on a return to profitability in pork production.
There will be economists and commodity
people present to look at the grain market
and technical advice to producers on how to
minimise their input costs under the current
economic environment.”
What is more, he reveals that the 20th
anniversary edition of the show will be preceded by a two-day tour with several visits
likely to be of interest to
feed professionals. The
tour begins and ends in
Des Moines and is timed
to dovetail with the trade
fair agenda. More details are being posted on
the show website, www.
worldpork.org.
Exhibitors regularly
include the biggest
names in feed supplies
for the North American market. Ingredients
will be only one part of the product portfolio
receiving special attention this year. Another
will be the increasing number of supplements
for the pig’s diet that are aimed at improving
the fertility of breeding animals or enhancing
the consumer appeal of pork products.
Last year, the show was visited by a
total of 34,565 people. That 2007 attendance was 10 percent more than in 2006
and included about 2,300 visitors from 50
countries to see the 1,000 exhibit booths of
450 companies.
“We have moved away from the original
concept of also drawing in townspeople
and consumers from Des Moines and the
surrounding area of Iowa to see the pork
industry’s largest trade show,” says John
Wrigley. “Our focus now is exclusively on the
attendance of producers and their advisers
from the swine sector, domestically and
internationally.
“It is one of the reasons we are going
to change the dates of the show in 2009.
In June 2008, we will have our usual timing
that starts on a Thursday and ends at noon
on the Saturday. For next year, however, we
have announced dates of June 3-5. That will
mean a Wednesday start and a Friday finish.
It is what our visitors and our exhibitors want,
a show that is 100 percent professional and
which no longer tries to have an additional
audience by inviting in the general public at
the weekend.” [FM]
Trade stands and breed judging highlight World Pork Expo, which returns to Des Moines, Iowa, in June. Most trade exhibits are in the Varied
Industries Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The site’s Hog Barn has judging of seven American breeds.
