000109 Pork Producers Seek Help From Gore On Russia AidJanuary 8, 2000Washington - U.S. pork producers tried to take advantage of Vice President Al Gore's campaign in Iowa, the nation's largest hog-producing state, to urge him to wield his influence on U.S. food aid to Russia. In a letter to Gore, who is campaigning in Iowa ahead of the Jan 24 presidential caucuses, the National Pork Producers Council asked the Democratic candidate to press for the inclusion of pork in a second food aid package for Russia. “Mr. Vice President, you have shown leadership on behalf of pork producers in the past,” NPPC President John McNutt wrote. “Thousands of pork producing families, teetering on the edge of financial collapse, need you once again to demonstrate leadership on their behalf.” In late 1998, USDA agreed to donate 50,000 tonnes of U.S. pork to Russia as part of a $1 billion aid package. The department is currently considering a second food aid request from Russia. NPPC said USDA's 1998 announcement helped boost live hog prices at a time when they had sunk to their lowest levels since World War Two. Although the hog market has recovered a bit, prices are still so low that some producers are getting out of the business altogether. The number of U.S. hog operations fell 14% last year, USDA reported last month.
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