September 27, 2001

LINCOLN, Neb. — Value-added products are increasing the number of markets for pork producers and offering more variety for consumers, said the University of Nebraska Pork Central coordinator.

However, opening these new markets requires hard work and filling a particular niche, Pork Central Coordinator Al Prosch said.

With markets narrowing and prices unpredictable, these ventures are helping pork producers earn more value for their product.

Two producers, Lynn Steuer and Phil Hardenburger of Pleasant Hill Farms of Crete, have filled such a niche.

Pleasant Hill Farms offers five different sausage flavors. The most popular is a green onion sausage, while apple, southern, Cajun and Italian also do well.

"We knew we could sell the chops, bacon and hams, but what we focused on were the sausages," Steuer said.

Steuer said they thought of the idea after Hardenburger lost 90 percent of his purebred Duroc boar buyers when prices dropped in 1998. In the summer of 1999, they went to the Lincoln Farmer's Market. In June 2000, they began selling their meat in Lincoln, Crete and in gift packages.

Steuer said marketing their own product taught them about consumers' wants and needs. Steuer can't just take a load of hogs to market and forget about them. The product has to be consistent and something consumers can recognize. Steuer said selling the product on the street helps them to realize what consumers are interested in.

"I sit and talk to people," Steuer said. "Producers forget what we are doing. Consumers are concerned about antibiotics, having a lean product, but the No. 1 thing is taste."

Prosch agreed and added producers are learning more about the entire business of producing food instead of producing hogs.

Eugene and Phyllis Friesen of Shenandoah Star Specialities of Henderson also join the value-added pork producers with their line of marinated cubed pork ready to use in stir fry or fajitas. They also offer pork tenderloins, marinated and smoked pork chops, smoked bacon, mildly seasoned and low-fat pork sausage, pork steak and rib racks.

Eugene Friesen said he always wanted to start a project like this. Friesen went through the NU Food Processing Center, From Product to Profit seminar in 1995, and he and his family began selling their product after that. However, the development takes a lot of time.

"You can never quit," he said. "You have to step out and meet the public. There is no real handbook for value-added pork marketing. It is very new to us as producers."

Friesen said people want a healthier alternative without a lot of additives.

Another Nebraska business, Farm Fresh Quality Pork of Auburn, is a co-op of seven board members and 29 producers with creative custom packages sold under the Nebraska Farmer's Choice Premium Pork label. The co-op was formed in November 1999, and the group started testing its market through festivals, events and pork stops in September 2000.

Deb Heidizig, chairman of the board of directors, said the group markets its pork products directly with its own truck doing "pork stops" in 15 different communities.

They offer cuts of pork and varieties of boxed pork. In larger communities those stops usually are at farmers' markets so people can better understand what they are doing rather than just being on the street corner.

She said the hardest thing in the venture was learning how to do everything.

"The rules, regulations and legal steps all need to be in place in order to start something like this," she said. "Once you have the group, the next big challenge is keeping it organized and running smoothly."

Heidizig said this value-added project is increasing members' profits. Such value-added approaches are one-key to success in the ever-challenging pork industry.

"Agriculture is changing rapidly, and commodity markets are narrowing significantly," she said. "To increase your living and cover your cost in living, this is necessary."

09/27/01-SA

Al Prosch
Pork Central
Coordinator
(800) 767-5287

Al Prosch
Pork Central
Coordinator
(800) 767-5287

Sandi Alswager Karstens
IANR News and Photography
(402) 472-3030

Department: Agricultural Economics