28 April 2022

5 minute read

By: Jim Long

We began writing the Pork Commentary over 20 years ago. Included in that time period has been the weekly Spanish translation on porcicultura.com. Many of you have read the commentary for many years, we have all been on a similar journey in our industry. If we think of all the ups and downs, the changes, the evolution, it has been quite the trip to a destination not yet determined.

We truly appreciate the long association with porcicultura.com. On the 20th anniversary of the commentary, Porcicultura wrote the following synopsis, of which we feel deeply humbled and honored. There is a link to the Spanish write-up with the English version below. We want to thank all who have supported the commentary for over a generation. We are all pig farmers. Whether big or small, we all have similar challenges. In the end, we are all united in the kinship of pig production.

Thank you,
Jim Long

20 years of Jim Long’s Pork Commentary in Porcicultura.com

In 2022 it will be two decades since Jim Long, President, and CEO of Genesus, has published his editorial comment week after week (translated into Spanish), an effort together with PORCICULTURA.COM.

Let’s go to celebrate it.

Jim Long's Pork Commentary celebrates 20 years of being published continuously translated into Spanish at PORCICULTURA.COM, for this reason, we believe it is important to take a tour of two decades of history, more than 1,000 texts and a history that has dealt with great informative moments within the swine industry.

Through his Pork Commentary, each week Jim has analyzed current issues for this sector, providing accurate data that helps decision-making, not only in large companies but also for small and medium-sized pig farmers who seek to increase their profitability.

Jim Long, President, and CEO of Genesus Inc. — one of the largest pig genetics companies in the world— has focused on continuously traveling to the main pig-producing regions in the world to get to know this activity in-depth, its challenges, particularities, and areas of opportunity.

PIG FARMING: A GLOBALIZED ACTIVITY THAT IS WORTH ANALYZING WITH A NARRATIVE, HARD DATA, STATISTICS, NUMBERS, AND OF COURSE, WITH A CHRONICLE TONE

Pig farming is one of the most important food industries worldwide since it produces the second most consumed type of meat after chicken, with a total of 97.7 million tons generated in 2020, according to figures from the Mexican Meat Council (Comecarne).

Like any globalized economic segment, it depends to a large extent on the dynamics of the economy and the free market, which is why it is essential to have the specialized opinion of experts in this sector, a role that Jim Long has played specifically in PORCICULTURA.COM during the last 20 years.

With the narrative of his experience in events such as the World Pork Expo, the Iowa Pork Congress, EuroTier, the International Animal Production Fair (FIGAN) in Spain, among others such as the Opormex Congress (formerly Oporpa), and even regional events in Mexico such as the AMVECAJ congress, this weekly comment has served as a window for pig farmers and businessmen in other latitudes to have an approach with the global industry.

FROM IOWA TO JALISCO... FROM SPAIN, DENMARK (THE EUROPEAN UNION), AND CHINA; ALL IN JIM LONG’S PIG COMMENTARY

Throughout the different relative events for this industry, Jim Long has maintained reliable updates regarding the evolution of the market around African Swine Fever (from its appearance in China to its arrival in the Caribbean); business disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic; and the rise in the world values ​​of grains and oilseeds.

To this point are added topics that week after week are vital for this productive segment, such as the financial futures of the lean pig, movements in international trade, legislative topics and various projections, and has even fulfilled a political task giving voice to pig farmers. Americans who did not receive the corresponding payment promised within the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, established by the government of that country and its Department of Agriculture, serving as an opinion within the sector, which generates disruption.

Intending to offer a global overview of the pork industry, through this segment, Jim Long has also annually brought us the list of Genesus World Mega Producers, a ranking prepared by Genesus that until 2020 was made up of 40 companies spread over nine countries, each with more than 100,000 pig sows.

At PORCICULTURA.COM, being a specialized site committed to the swine industry, we understand the importance of providing this space to specialists in the sector so that they can bring pertinent information to producers, which is why we are pleased to give a privileged place to Jim Long among our publications, in the spirit of keeping it that way for years to come.

Congratulations Jim for these 20 years in which you have worked closely with us; thanks for the trust placed in PORCICULTURA.COM. Congratulations!

NOTES

Below is a poster including some data and information about the Pork Commentary and Genesus.

Some translations from this poster: Jim Long’s Pork Commentary 20 years published in Spanish –

• First time published in 2002.
• Since then, the “Commentary” has been published without interruptions every single week.
• The weekly Commentary has accumulated more than two million readings in two decades.
• Then comes a paragraph showing the 15 countries where the Pork Commentary is read in Spanish.
• The following is related to the topics covered by the Pork Commentary.
• And finally ends with the story of the Genesus World Mega Producers (2020 data)