From Mainstreet to China...

You just never know when your Operation Main Street training might come in handy.  Just ask Burt Norell, a Minnesota pork producer who was asked at the last minute to give a presentation about U.S. pork production during a two-week international study tour to China.

“Thankfully, I had been through the Checkoff’s Operation Main Street training and had done some presentations to area civic groups, so I was comfortable getting up in front of an audience,” said Norell, a fourth-generation farmer who runs a wean-to-finish operation near St. Peter, Minn.

Norell was in China from Feb. 15 through March 1 as part of the Minnesota Agriculture & Rural Leadership program.  When the group visited Sichuan Agricultural University, the hosts decided an educational seminar was in order for the next day’s agenda.  Norell’s Operation Main Street training helped him prepare for the 15-minute presentation.

“I talked about the same things I tell local Rotary clubs,” said Norell, who finishes about 2,000 hogs a year and runs a corn and soybean operation with his two brothers.  “I talked about our family farm and how hog production is very important to the economy.”

The Chinese audience asked questions about the U.S. pork processing industry and swine genetics, especially Berkshire genetics.

Norell, who has served on the promotions committee for the Minnesota Pork Board, completed Operation Main Street training in 2005. He says it helped create a comfort level with public speaking.  

“As you practice in front of the Operation Main Street participants, you learn how to communicate effectively,” Norell said.

In the past year Norell has given presentations to Rotary Clubs in various Minnesota communities.  “Many of these people don’t understand the pork industry,” said Norell, who is glad the Checkoff has invested in Operation Main Street and encourages other producers to take part.

 

Speaking Up for Pork

Operation Main Street is one of the latest Checkoff-funded programs to help pork producers across America speak up for their industry.  The program was developed to improve the image of the pork industry by having producers communicate with their neighbors about their farm, the important role that pork production plays in the local economy, and ways producers are protecting the environment.

“Producers were tired of getting beat up, and we needed to do something to take the offensive instead of being on the defensive,” said Ernie Barnes, director of industry services for the Pork Checkoff.  “To meet this need the Checkoff created Operation Main Street.”

Operation Main Street built on earlier Checkoff-funded programs that connected producers with their communities. In the 1980s and early 1990s, for example, producers could participate in Speaker Corps, where they received communications training.  Follow-up was hit-and-miss, however.

“With Operation Main Street we check in with participants long after the training is complete and continue to provide the resources they need as they give presentations to local groups,” said Nicole Boettger, director of producer services for the Pork Checkoff.

So far, Operation Main Street participants have spoken to thousands of local citizens at Rotary Club meetings, chambers of commerce and elsewhere, giving members of those groups accurate information about pork production.