A Personal Interest

Larry Liepold is a pork producer from Okabena, Minnesota, and has served as president of the Minnesota Pork Producers Association (MPPA). In the summer of 2001, Larry and four other farm families had a deeply personal interest in seeing how pork was selling at Kowalski’s Market in Woodbury, Minnesota. The farmers ventured to the store to introduce pork raised and processed through Minnesota Certified Pork — a new cooperative they formed to market pork that is certified to meet high production and quality standards.

The pork from the cooperative was the first product to go through Minnesota Certified, a third-party certification program run by the University of Minnesota and Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA). The program is known as MinnCERT. The voluntary program allows farmers to develop production standards that appeal to consumer demands for product quality and animal care, says Dave Starner, a Hoffman, Minnesota hog producer who is a former MPPA president. The University and MDA ensure standards are met.

Quality vs. Commodity

Boyd Oase, meat manager for Kowalski’s, says there seems to be good consumer response to Minnesota Certified Pork. It will take some time to accumulate sales figures to see just how good that consumer response is. The idea behind selling pork that is seen as higher quality than commodity cuts appeals to Kowalski’s because the market serves a clientele that does not mind paying more for food if it is a good value. Kowalski’s also wants to shore up sales of pork, which had slipped in comparison with beef and poultry. “My expectation is it will improve our sales for pork,” Boyd says. “Any area where we can get better shelf movement is good for us.” Swift and Company’s plant in Worthington, Minnesota, to make it easier for consumers and others to trace the meat’s origins and to maintain high processing standards,” Dave says. The five farmers will supply 1100 hogs a week to the Cooperative. If the concept is successful, other farmers will be invited to join the Cooperative and buy stock, he says. The hope is there will be so much demand for certified pork that more processors and grocery chains will come on-line.

Meeting Consumer Demands for Quality

In addition to Larry and Dave, other farmers in the Cooperative include Jim Quackenbush of Chokio, David and Karen Richter of Montgomery, and John Vaubel of Mapleton. Their herd sizes vary from 125to 2000 sows. The Richters and other Cooperative members say they wanted to move away from the uncertainties of the commodity pork market while meeting consumer demands for quality and the ability to trace animals back to the farm. “It seemed like a progressive move for our operation,” Karen Richter says. “The industry is changing; the average consumer is changing. They want to know where their food is produced.” Karen believes that many people want to help family farmers, but do not know how. The Cooperative makes putting more money in farmers’ pockets as easy as going to the grocery store.

The Richter’s say the production guidelines are already being met by many producers — the only difference is the University and MDA are assuring standards are met. After looking at pork with the MinnCERT label in the meat case, Larry cannot help but smile.