It’s that time of year when lists are made. It started with the Christmas list and seems to conclude with a list of resolutions for 2013. When it comes to the pork industry, you could make lists focused on a lot of things. For starters, we had some hot topics in 2012: gestation stalls (and a list of grocery stores, restaurants and foodservice entities that want to phase them out), antibiotic use, drought, feed prices and ethanol, just to name a few. But when I took a look at the content our readers prioritized on the National Hog Farmer Web site this year, I felt especially good about the pork industry once again.
According to the numbers, our readers are still primarily focusing on the pigs and the people who manage and care for them. You see, more than 25,000 people honed in on our “Hogs Are Beautiful” Photo Gallery this year.
Pork producers are always working to improve their production practices. National Hog Farmer’s popular online educational photo gallery series, based on an equally popular series of educational posters, captured reader attention this year. The photo gallery entitled, “See What You Feel: An Assisted Farrowing Guide,” was viewed by more than 11,000 people. Photo galleries devoted to Heat Detection, Assisted Farrowing Tips and Sow Body Condition Scoring Guidelines also helped provide training and information that comes in handy in hog barns. We continue to focus on research-based production information targeted specifically to our pork producer readers.
It’s hard to beat the National Hog Farmer news team when it comes to covering day-to-day pork industry news, too. Our daily news coverage brings the latest details on issues ranging from the ethanol debate and environmental regulations, to gestation stalls and consumer perceptions about pork. Our coverage of pork industry events like World Pork Expo also helps our readers keep on top of issues that impact the business of pork production. See a list of our most popular Web site content from 2012 at nationalhogfarmer.com.
National Hog Farmer Editor Dale Miller devoted his editorial in the December 2012 issue of the magazine to taking a look at the issues the pork industry will be facing in 2013. What’s on your list of pork industry “hot topics?” Is there a story you would like us to cover? Post your thoughts in the “Comments” section, or email [email protected]. Have a happy and prosperous 2013!
