Washington - The U.S. Agriculture Department outlined details of a plan to kill as many as 1.9 million hogs in the first half of 1999 to help reduce a price-depressing surplus.
Under the voluntary program, the department will accelerate efforts to eradicate psuedorabies, a highly contagious livestock virus, from the U.S. hog inventory by paying producers to “depopulate” infected herds.
The state with the largest number of animals in infected herds is Indiana, followed closely by Iowa, the U.S's largest pork producer and an important early contest state in the presidential nomination process every four years.
Vice President Al Gore was in Iowa on Friday to announce that the federal government was channeling $80 million into the accelerated eradication program and would make another $50 million in direct cash payments to pork producers suffering from the lowest prices in five decades.
Indiana currently has 200 herds, comprised of 604,890 hogs and pigs, under quarantine for pseudorabies, compared to 600 herds with a total of 510,000 hogs and pigs in Iowa.
There are 336,374 animals in infected hog herds in North Carolina, 212,000 in Minnesota, 160,000 in Nebraska, 18,900 in Michigan, and a total of 19,630 in other states where the disease is still present.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
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Northport, NY 11768
Phone: 631-757-4010
Fax: 631-757-4060
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com
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