2024 Stakeholder Report
Building a Bigger Appetite for Pork
Our 2024 stakeholder report highlights the collaborative efforts of producer leaders, the board of directors, partner organizations and NPB staff.
2024 Highlights
NPB is a consumer-focused, producer-led organization. Its Checkoff-funded education, promotion and research initiatives to build trust and add value for the U.S. pork industry are led by producers and supported by allied industry, academia and state pork association staff.
$2 million
Two million in Checkoff funds have been invested collaboratively by SHIC and NPB to research H5N1 influenza in swine.
832,161
movements in AgView, currently 17,000 movements logged weekly
61,253
PQA+ certifications in 37 states and 28,426 TQA certifications in 37 states
50
Producers participated in 7 task forces
19
Producers participated in the Pork Leadership Institute
13
Producers participated in swine health exercises and workshops in 10 states
9
Real Pork Scholars were awarded scholarships
9
Producers, veterinarians and financial experts served on the Swine Health Information Center Board of Directors
Discover the Impact of Pork Industry Collaboration
The 2024 Stakeholder Report showcases the collective efforts of producer leaders, the NPB Board of Directors, partner organizations, and NPB staff in driving the pork industry forward. This report provides key insights into our strategic initiatives, industry advancements, and the progress made over the past year.
What’s Inside?
📌 Highlights of producer-led initiatives
📌 Key investments and industry partnerships
📌 Progress on market growth, swine health and sustainability
Market Growth
New Research Helps Identify the Future Pork Consumer
Research shows pork consumption is declining across every generation, and younger consumers don’t always keep pork top of mind. However, the good news is this decline is reversible.
The NPB Board of Directors and leadership have made growing pork demand a top priority. To achieve this, NPB invested in Consumer Connect, a tool to better understand and connect with core consumers, addressing their taste, nutrition and convenience concerns.
Coming in 2025 – a new consumer campaign that will use Consumer Connect as a building block to strategically become more relevant to consumers.
Message from the CEO
“The industry is on the cusp of changing how these consumers perceive pork – and making it more relevant than ever.”
Bill Even, NPB CEO
International Market Development
A Record-Breaking Year for Exports
The Pork Checkoff has developed an international market development strategy to build confidence in U.S. pork in a diverse global protein market. We differentiate U.S. Pork from competitors and add value and opportunity to other markets. We build trust in pork production and practices, expand markets and strategically position pork to drive purchase decisions.
In 2024, U.S. pork exports surpassed $8.63 billion in value. In total, more than 3.03 million metric tons of pork was exported to other markets.
Swine Health
Disease Prevention and Preparation
With a swine health focus for 2024, NPB has conducted engagement exercises with states to disseminate “lessons learned” and direct planning. The exercises give producers, veterinarians, state animal health officials (SAHOs) and farmworkers a real-world example of what happens during a foreign animal disease (FAD) outbreak and what steps to take on the farm.
Secure Your Pig Herd with AgView®
AgView® was built to be the Path to Protection® that helps producers and officials respond to an emergency the minute a threat arises, providing the critical information needed to manage an FAD crisis.
We Care®
Protecting Your Future
For 17 years, the We Care® ethical principles have guided U.S. pork producers. Today, the program continues to evolve to protect producers’ freedom to operate and build trust across the supply chain. NPB uses Pork Checkoff funds to invest in key research within the six We Care® ethical principles and build partnerships with supply chain brands. We Care®, the industry’s sustainability platform, aims to track producer progress and foster value-added opportunities, like partnerships that fund and reward continuous improvement.
A Platform to Showcase Progress
A major advancement in this year’s We Care® effort is the relaunch of porkcares.org, now serving as the pork industry’s evergreen and publicfacing sustainability report. This platform highlights producers’ progress related to We Care® principles, metrics and goals.
By sharing producers’ stories, the site builds trust with supply chain partners and fosters collaboration that supports the industry’s long-term success. Designed to resonate with key food industry decision-makers, including supply chain executives, the site demonstrates the values that drive U.S. pork producers:
- Caring for animals: Healthy pigs remain our top priority.
- Caring for people: Employees, customers and partners are
the heart of our industry. - Caring for the planet: Protecting soil, air and water for
future generations.
Research Breakdown
Research is at the heart of the National Pork Board’s mission and is funded by Pork Checkoff dollars. Research is administered in all areas of pork production, processing and human nutrition to develop a higher quality and more profitable product in the competitive meat protein market.
The graph represents research projects that were funded in 2024. To read more about the research being conducted at NPB, click here.
