Atlanta - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter did some pork-barrel politicking Monday, telling President Bill Clinton that Georgia hog farmers need emergency loans because pork prices have plunged to 8 1/2 cents a pound.
Carter, 74, told the president in a letter that a recent public sale of hogs in South Georgia caused “the most serious crisis among farmers that I have witnessed since the Great Depression.”
The former president said that hogs went for 8 1/2 cents a pound in the sale, down from a high of 43 cents per pound earlier in the year.
Carter said government programs currently in place to help farmers will not provide an immediate solution to the problem.
“Very few hog farmers use government loans to finance their operation, so the extension of loan repayments will not be much help,” he said.
“More pork for school lunch programs and increased exports are too long range in their effect,” Carter said.
“What they need immediately is the availability of low-interest emergency loans, which will tide then over until the market rallies back to the break-even point.”
Gabe Jordan, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Agriculture, confirmed Carter's assessment. He said the monthly average high in June for a 230- to 250- pound hog was 43.98 cents per pound. He said the current price, adjusted for inflation, was the lowest this century.
“This is the lowest price since 1963,” Jordan said. “Hog farmers now are making one-third of what they made during the Depression. If you adjust all prices for inflation, prices now are lower than they have been this century.”
Asked why the low prices were not reflected in the amount consumers pay for pork products, Jordan said, “Processors and slaughterhouses are making a mint right now.”
Meat Industry Insights News Service
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