October is National Pork Month, but Missouri has already begun its celebrations.
The Missouri Department of Agriculture held a ceremony in Jefferson City honoring the states’s pork industry Tuesday morning. Director Jon Hagler says the pork industry contributes 25,000 jobs and more than $1 billion to the state economy each year.
“It’s hard to overestimate the impact that pork has in our agricultural and overall, our state’s economy, particularly in rural Missouri. Sometimes, the pork industry is one of the biggest employers in town or in that small community,” Hagler says.
Hagler also presented pork producer Phil Howerton of Chilhowee an agriculture achievement award for his work to improve efficiency at his family farm. The ceremony ended with a pulled pork lunch.
