Confidential U.S. Farm Data May Have Been Released into the Wrong Hands

Feb 21, 2013

National Pork Producers Council “Extremely Troubled” Over New Findings

There is nothing worse than confidential information slipping into the wrong hands. This may have been the case in the United States where the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) learned that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had released some personal information of U.S. hog farmers along with other livestock and poultry producers. It’s believed that some of the information was given to two activist groups who may now have confidential business data for a number of U.S. farms.

Several activists groups including: the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Earth Justice and the Pew Charitable Trusts requested information under Freedom of Information Act. It’s been learned that the EPA earlier this month released raw data from farms in 30 states; and it’s also believed that in some of those cases the information that was provided included home addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses as well as information on employees of farm operations.

The NPPC released a statement on Wednesday expressing concern over this recent discovery. “The release of data containing personal and confidential information is extremely troubling; we feel betrayed,” said NPPC President R.C. Hunt, a hog farmer from Wilson, N.C. “We are very concerned for farmers and with the ability of those opposed to modern livestock and poultry farms to manipulate that data to advance their extremist agenda.”

The NPPC is the voice for over 67,000 hog producers in the United States.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.