In this video interview, Julie Anna Potts, newest president & CEO of North American Meat Institute, speaks with editor-in-chief Andy Hanacek at IPPE.

Editor-in-chief Andy Hanacek discusses the focus of our January cover story, Stampede Meat, and the role they are playing in the Sunland Park, N.M., community and the the greater El Paso, Texas region.

What happens when you put food-conscious consumers center stage before a group of food producers? Oklahoma pork producers had the opportunity to hear straight from the source in a recent consumer panel hosted by The Center for Food Integrity and quickly realized they don’t know as much as they thought about today’s consumer when it comes to thoughts on food and how it’s produced.

Farming has never been easy, but the hard work, perseverance and unwavering grit of farmers and ranchers is what sets agriculture apart from other industries. Our industry has no shortage of challenges, yet the rise of social media, public interest in food production and animal rights activism are bringing even more to the table. This year, make your New Year’s resolution count and help our industry succeed into the future.

I’m still new to the idea of hurricanes because I grew up in the Midwest. Yes, I’ve lived through countless blizzards, ice storms and the occasional tornado, but never hurricanes. Now, living in North Carolina, hurricane season has become a very real part of my life.

According to the Cambridge English dictionary, a very simplistic definition of sustainability is "the quality of being able to continue over a period of time." When you look at the history of the poultry and egg industry, we can claim with great confidence we meet that standard.

The purpose of this trip was to bring together media and food industry experts from the United States and Canada and processors from Poland.

Andy Hanacek's November "From the Editor's Desk" is the second video in a special two-part series focusing on employers and employees in the meat and poultry industry.

I've written recently about the need to travel outside of your normal area. Recently, thanks to this trip and some other life developments, I'm seeing that you have to be willing to do more things outside your comfort zone as well.

From an animal welfare perspective, 2018 has been a relative continuation of the past few years. Many of the same challenges still exist, but many within the industry have made the choice to take the challenges head-on and find solutions that work for them.