Beyond Todays Technology: Keys to Global Competitiveness

Purdue University 1997 Swine Research Report. Sometime in the early part of the next century, the U.S. pork production industry will look back at 1995 and remember it as a watershed year. So will many other nations. This was the first year since 1952 that the U.S. pork industry became, once again, a net exporter of its products. Even though the U.S. share of the global pork market is still very small indeed, the U.S. industry has given the international pork production community a wake-up call. It is fair to say the world industry has shifted its attention to the U.S. as an emerging leader in innovation, technology and future global marketing. However, in this new light, the U.S. industry is being examined with a growing sense of awe and fear, and strategically, as both a model and a target. All things being equal, net exports for the U.S. industry means increased demand. Between the impact of net export sales and the discovery in the U.S. fast food market of bacon as a condiment, just about everyone in U.S. business is now very keenly aware of the importance increased demand has on prices received at the farm and throughout the chain. However, will 1995, in the light of 2005, be viewed as a missed opportunity or the beginning of long-term, sustained, wealth creation for the U.S. industry?