Dear ABA members and stakeholders,

The purpose of this letter is to update you on a number of important American Berkshire Association topics.

Director of Berkshire Operations:  The job description was updated and posted on April 26 to indeed.com and the ABA website (see “About” tab and “Careers”).  We already have several intriguing candidates who have submitted their resumes.  The ABA Board will begin interviewing candidates in June, and we hope to have the new Director in place by the 2020 STC.  Please help us get the word out and if you know of any good candidates, please pass their names along to Greg Smith.

Office Administration:  The ABA thanks Katie Brummet for her years of service to the Association.  She has decided to pursue other opportunities.  Katie has been a tremendous asset to the ABA team and its membership with improved efficiencies of our office and pedigree services.   We wish her the very best in her ventures. 

Katie has been training Macie Wippel to assume a fulltime role with the ABA through early August.  Macie is a former ABA intern with several years of experience in the ABA office.  We welcome her to the team.  She can be reached at office@americanberkshire.com or at the ABA office phone number. 

2020 Exposition and STC:  As many of you may have heard, The Exposition has been cancelled per the Indiana State government’s guidelines.  Covid19 has effected us all in many ways and the purebred swine industry is no different.  The ABA, CPS and NSR have teamed up to host a joint event for July 7-11 in Des Moines, Iowa.  We anticipate this will be one of the largest hog shows in history and should be very exciting!  More details will be forthcoming. 

Online Shows and Sales:  All three organizations have approved an online show and sale to be held in June 2020.  The ABA understands in this difficult time of social distancing, an online event might fit the needs of many of its breeders.  More information has been posted on the ABA website and on social media.    

Team Purebred:  2020 is proving to be a very difficult year for the commercial swine industry.  We are starting to see the impact of this on Team Purebred sponsorships and donations.  Team Purebred is one of the most important functions of the American Berkshire Association and needs your support.  If you are able, please make sure and donate to this great cause (https://teampurebred.com/donations/)! 

2020 ABA Progeny Test:  The 2020 ABA progeny test started on April 11th in Terre Haute, IN.  We are thrilled to have 16 pens on test with entries from Fly’n K Berkshires (6 pens), AJC Berkshires (5 pens), Pete Brummer and Family, England’s Berkshires, Dallas Kuper, Phenotypic Acres, and Lonnie Ploeger.  A big thank you goes out to these breeders for their industry leadership! 

Experience Berkshire Magazine:  The ABA Board recently approved three more issues of the Experience Berkshire magazine to be mailed directly to ABA members.  The purpose of this magazine is to tell the story of the Berkshire Breed and to promote the superior eating quality traits of Berkshire pork to a wider audience that includes retailers, restaurants, and chefs.  The May 2020 issue is now available for your review (https://issuu.com/experienceberkshire/docs/may_2020_experience_berkshire_).

Direct to Consumer Marketing:  The ABA Board is creating a direct to consumer Berkshire Pork Marketing program for ABA registered pigs.  Under this program, ABA members will be able to purchase registered Berkshire pork promotional materials and meat stickers at the ABA’s cost to enable ABA members to promote registered Berkshire pork direct to consumers through farmer markets or on-farm freezer meat sales.  Please watch the ABA website and Facebook for updates!  It is the goal of this Board to provide more marketing opportunities for your Berkshire hogs, genetics and pork. 

The Future:  The old cliché of “The only thing that remains constant is change” applies with to the swine industry and to agriculture as a whole.  The same rings true for the American Berkshire Association at this point in time.  We have seen several changes and we anticipate several more in the coming months and years.  Your Board of Directors has been and will continue to listen to industry leaders, government officials and to you, the membership of the American Berkshire Association.  It is our intention to respond to the dynamics of the world around us. 

If you have any questions, please call Greg Smith at 970-443-5527 or any of your ABA Board members. 

Download letter here.