News
Vietnamese Ambassador visits Kansas farm
by Mark Parker
There are a lot of good reasons to put Kansas pork on Vietnamese dinner tables — about 87 million and counting. Expanding Kansas agriculture’s global footprint in Southeast Asia was the goal of a recent visit by Vietnamese Ambassador to the U.S. Nguyen Quoc Cuong who spent a day in Washington County getting a taste of Kansas pork.
Cuong wanted to see with his own eyes how American pork is produced, especially in regard to his nation’s food safety and hygiene requirements. That’s exactly what he did at Brice and Lynn Sawin’s Brylin Farms. Along with his wife, Ha Hoang, the ambassador walked through a Brylin 2,000- head finishing unit, inspecting the hogs and the facility — and asking lots and lots of questions.
“I was impressed both by how interested they were in our farm and how knowledgeable they were about pork production,” says Lynn Sawin, who is also a customer specialist in Frontier Farm Credit’s Marysville office. “This wasn’t just a photo op for them. They wanted to know how the pigs got feed and water and about the whole production process. They seemed truly interested in gathering information about Kansas pork and taking that information back to their country.”
Lynn says Ambassador Cuong appeared to be particularly impressed with the farm’s mechanization and sanitary controls. “At one point he said, ‘our pigs just run around,’ and I think they were a little leery of entering the finishing unit until they actually went inside and then they were very enthusiastic and wanted to learn more.”
According to Dr. Pete Sherlock, a member of the Kansas Pork Association’s executive board and a Washington, Kan., veterinarian, the farm visit delivered a great first impression of the state’s pork industry.
“At Brylin Farms, the ambassador saw a modern facility with clean, healthy and productive pigs,” he explains. “It was a great snapshot of the American pork industry and a great opportunity for Kansas. The Vietnamese ambassador was very receptive to the information he received and he definitely appeared to be very interested in Kansas pork. Hopefully, this will help lead to increased trade.”
In addition to the Sawin family, hosts for the visit were First District U.S. Congressman Tim Huelskamp, State Representative Sharon Schwartz and Brylin Farms Manager Tim Schwartz. Huelskamp discussed trade prospects between the U.S. and Vietnam with Ambassador Cuong, particularly in light of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations currently underway. The TPP is a multi-lateral trade liberalization pact that also includes Malaysia, Singapore, Peru, Chile, Australia, New Zealand and Brunei.
Congressman Huelskamp stated, “It was a very unique and special privilege to host His Excellency in America’s heartland. There are great opportunities to increase trade between the United States and Vietnam and I will work to take down barriers and facilitate that. I am enthusiastic about, and proud of, Kansas agriculture and appreciated the opportunity to show the safe products our great state has to offer in the global marketplace.”
Besides contributing to the potential for opening up new markets for Kansas pork, Lynn Sawin recognized the visit as a special opportunity for the Sawin family which includes son Bryant, 10, and daughter, Lindsey, 9. “The ambassador and his wife — both of whom spoke excellent English — were very interested in our family as well as our farm,” she explains. “They visited with our kids and that was a very neat experience for all of us.”
For Vietnam’s growing population, pork is a big favorite, representing about 75 percent of Vietnamese meat consumption. The Southeast Asian nation’s rapid economic expansion means there is now more money to pay for improved diets and an ever-growing appetite for meat. It’s a need that can’t be met by a Vietnamese swine industry dominated by backyard farms and but it is one that Kansas farmers like Brice and Lynn Sawin are both willing and able to help meet.
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