For Immediate Release
NPPC - November 20, 1998

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) today urged President Bill Clinton to take "direct and immediate action to prevent the financial destruction of pork producers and their families." Pork producers are facing the lowest commodity prices since 1971 and are losing an average of $50 to $75 per market hog.

A letter signed by NPPC President Donna Reifschneider, a pork producer from Smithton, Ill., stated, ". . . losses are of such historic proportions that if this dangerous situation is not reversed quickly, it will result in the failure of tens of thousands of pork producers and a massive restructuring of pork production in the United States. We believe the economic crisis facing America's pork producers must be viewed as a national emergency, warranting immediate intervention by the U.S. government."

The request for government intervention comes at a time when the U.S. pork industry is experiencing strong product demand. Consumer demand for pork is averaging 7 to 8 percent higher this year compared to 1997. U.S. pork exports for the first eight months of the year are up 32 compared to '97. Plus, the pork industry got a welcomed boost with the inclusion of 50,000 metric tons of U.S. pork for a Russian food assistance package.

NPPC representatives met with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials earlier in the week to outline the difficult supply-driven situation the U.S. pork industry is facing. USDA estimates that U.S. pork producers are receiving approximately $144 million less per week on average than they did during the past five years. Unfortunately, most pork producers are not eligible for financial assistance included in H.R. 4328, the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplement Appropriations for FY 1999.

The president was asked to consider the following initiatives:

1. Create an Economic Crisis Task Force.
   The task force would create a pool of resources and expertise from federal government agencies to address the crisis.
   
   
2. Increase daily slaughter capacity.
   The U.S. pork industry has lost 37,000 head of daily slaughter capacity since June 1997. That, combined with record production, 10 percent over 1997, has created a bottleneck for the industry. The president was asked to have EPA remove the 144,000 head per week cap on the Carolina Food Processors Plant in Tar Heel, N.C. The facility is now slaughtering 24,000 head per day, but has a daily capacity of 32,000 head per day.
   
   The administration was asked to request the government of Canada to send fewer Canadian hogs across the U.S. border for slaughter. Based on Canadian government statistics, Canada is currently slaughtering an estimated 50,000 hogs less per week than its country's total weekly slaughter capacity.
   
   Another request was to postpone the Immigration and Naturalization Service's Operation Vanguard, which seeks to document legal alien workers in packing and processing plants. The loss of any packing plant employees during the current crisis would exacerbate the existing problem.
   
   
3. Increase government purchases of pork and pork products.
   Pork producers suggested the administration increase its pork purchases for the breakfast and school lunch program, Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), Food for Peace (P.L.480) and Food for Progress (P.L.416) programs, and other humanitarian assistance initiatives. USDA was also encouraged to evaluate a program for exporting live breeding animals.
   
   
4. Grant credit forbearance for producers.
   Since most pork producers will face an equity or cash flow crisis this year, the letter suggested that all federal banking and financial institutions be contacted and urged to work with its producer clients during the crisis.
   
   
5. Make the Emergency Disaster Loan Guarantee Program available.
   Many pork producers are facing economic disaster. The government was asked to make pork producers eligible for such a program.

back to Press Releases Index