State Fair Birthing Pavilion is off to a good start

By Kyla Wize, NPPA Youth Leadership and Events Speacilist,

Hello everyone!

The Nebraska State Fair opened its gates for the first time in Grand Island on Friday, August 27^th. In addition to increased entries in all 4-H and FFA contests, including livestock exhibits, and quilts on display, the Birthing Pavilion cosponsored by the Nebraska Pork Producers Association and the Nebraska CattleWomen garnered its fair share of attention!

Check out some of the news coverage!

http://theindependent.com/articles/2010/08/29/news/local/state_fair/12250156.txt

And make sure to check out the pictures too!

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100829/NEWS01/708299910

I send my thanks for helping make this grassroots educational effort a true success! For every producer for their Checkoff investment in this project, the CattleWomen and their members for cooperating and collaborating, all the volunteers (board members, allied members, producers, mentors and other youth leaders) and others who have been supportive!

The Nebraska Pork Producers Association hopes you and your entire family visit us at the Birthing Pavilion and at our booth in the Exhibition Hall, DA19!

NPPA to be at Welcome Back Club Fair

The Nebraska Pork Producers Association will be at the East Campus Welcome Back Club Fair Thursday, Aug. 26. The event will be held on the north side of the East Campus Union from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

New and current students alike take part in the East Campus Welcome Back event where recognized Student Organizations set up booths with information about their organization as well as offer give-a-ways. This is a great opportunity for students to find ways to get involved and meet other students on East Campus. Also, a picnic style dinner is provided to all students that attend.

NPPA will have a booth at the event with information about the 2011 Pork Mentor Program, a career development program that provides a variety of hands-on experiences that promote leadership and communication skills, ultimately fostering career development.

2011 Pork Mentors will job shadow pork industry professionals, promote agriculture and the pork industry, improve leadership, team building, and communication skills. Mentors will also travel to the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa, and other exciting tours and group events.

Interested students can pick up applications for the 2011 Pork Mentor Program from the NPPA booth at the Welcome Back Club Fair or download it from the website.

NPPA will also have pork industry quick facts and FREE STUFF at the event so you won’t want to pass up this opportunity of seeing how you can get money, knowledge and FREE STUFF all at one place!

(I will be there with my “Nice Chops” t-shirt!)

New pork scholarships for college students now available

By Pork news staff

All college juniors and seniors who plan to pursue a career in pork production management or a related field, or who will be seeking to attend graduate school and major in a discipline with an emphasis on swine, are invited to submit an application for one of the 19 available scholarships sponsored by the National Pork Board/National Pork Checkoff, PIC and Pioneer.

Application guidelines should be followed and may be submitted online using this form. The deadline to submit applications is Oct. 1 Scholarship recipients will be notified in December.

“This is an extremely important part of what we do on behalf of America’s pork producers,” said Mark Knauer, NPB’s animal science director. “Encouraging young people to continue their education in swine-related fields helps to ensure that we have a steady pipeline of experts in areas critical to the industry’s future success.”

The top application will be awarded a scholarship of $5,000, and a scholarship of $3,500 will be awarded to the first runner-up. All other scholarships awarded are $2,000.

Preference will be given to scholarship applicants who are:

Easy to do, good to eat

I have personally tried and enjoyed (actually loved) the warm tasty goodness of pork carnitas. Carnitas translated means “little meats,” and is a pork shoulder that has been braised or roasted to a delicious tenderness that the whole family can enjoy!

This popular Southwestern dish is a great dish that will bring spice to the table. All you need to do is set the table and let everyone create their own tortilla-filled meal. My pork carnita was held in a corn tortilla, making it a unique taste compared to a traditional tortilla.

Try it out and let us know what you think! Get creative and add your own personal touch to your Pork Carnita.

It’s time to celebrate 50 years!

 

Pork Queens at Nebraska Land Days in North Platte, 1976

It’s time to celebrate the Nebraska Pork Producers Association’s 50th anniversary in 2011!

Fifty years ago, leaders of the Nebraska pork industry founded NPPA to promote the pork industry through the enhancement of consumer information, producer education and research. Over the years NPPA has worked hard to do just that for the Nebraska pork industry.

Now in preparation for the year-long celebration in 2011, we’re asking all pork producers, allied members and friends of the pork industry to lend us a hand to ensure that 2011 is a memorable year for all! There are several ways to get involved with planning for the 50th Anniversary Celebration, but there are two ways that we really need help on!

50th Anniversary Logo Contest

No need to be a pork producer to enter the logo contest! NPPA is looking for the ultimate 50th anniversary logo to place on all promotional materials such as flyers, t-shirts, brochures, etc., as well as on all mailings. All 50th anniversary logo ideas need to be submitted to the NPPA office (nppa@nepork.org) by September 1, 2010 in a JPEG file. The NPPA Board of Directors will then vote on the designs and the winner will be notified.

The 50th anniversary logo contest winner will receive a $50 visa gift card and a special recognition in the Pork Talk quarterly magazine.