NPPC Asks Congress' Help for Pork Industry
Several suggestions made to help producers.
Compiled by staff
Published: Oct 26, 2009
In testimony before the House Committee on Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry, Don Butler, president of the National Pork Producers Council asked Congress to take steps to help U.S. pork producers. The U.S. pork industry has lost more than $5.3 billion since September 2007, with producers losing nearly $23 on each hog marketed since then.
Butler pointed out that many factors have contributed to the economic crisis, including the unwarranted bans on U.S. pork by some countries because of fears of the H1N1 virus. But the biggest reason, Butler said, has been high feed grain prices. Feed prices, which account for 60% of the cost of raising a hog, have increased over the past two years.
To deal with the situation, Butler asked Congress to: urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make more purchases of pork for various federal food-assistance programs; reexamine a spending cap on USDA's Section 32 program; pressure U.S. trading partners, particularly China and Russia, to eliminate their barriers to U.S. pork imports; and approve the pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, which would add greatly to pork producers' bottom line.
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