Washington - The president of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), Jerry King, thanked Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service for the announcement today that it will purchase up to $30 million in pork products beginning in mid- March for the government's various domestic feeding programs. The products to be purchased are canned pork, fine ground pork and smoked fully cooked boneless hams.
King had asked Secretary Glickman in a letter last month to use various USDA programs to help moderate the current downward pressure on hog prices. In his letter, King had said that he was deeply concerned about the financial viability of many of the nation's pork producers as a result of the current low hog price situation.
King said today, "The secretary's swift action in making this purchase is deeply appreciated by the nation's pork producers. We are confident that he will move in other areas under his jurisdiction to assist even furthers."
In his letter last month, the NPPC president had asked Glickman to implement five programs to help alleviate the downward pressure on hog prices. In addition to the use of Section 32 contingency funds for distribution to USDA'S domestic feeding programs, including the school lunch and breakfast programs, King asked USDA to purchase pork for the Emergency Food Assistance Program and for the Food for Progress and Food for Peace programs. He also asked for the secretary to initiate action for guarantee of payment for overseas pork sales through the GSM-102/Supplier Cash Programs, and for the government to accelerate its pressure to remove nontariff barriers to U.S. pork exports in several overseas markets.
"Global events are impacting hog prices," said King, "and many U.S. pork producers very survival is at stake." King said today's action by Secretary Glickman and the Agriculture Marketing Service while welcome, is hopefully just the beginning of USDA assistance in the present low hog price situation.
The National Pork Producers Council is a national association representing pork producers in 44 affiliated state associations, who annually generate approximately $11 billion in farm gate sales, $64 billion in economic activity and employ 600,000 Americans from the farm through processing.
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