000439 USDA Plans Rules for Pork ReferendumApril 15, 2000Washington - USDA announced rules for a referendum, expected to be held this summer, on whether hog farmers want to continue paying the fees that fund the “other white meat” advertising program for pork. Under the rules, producers will be given a two-day period to vote in person and a four-week period to vote absentee. Dates have not been set. It will be the first referendum on the pork program since it was created 14 years ago. Opponents of the $48 million program, which pays for research as well as advertising, say it has done little to stimulate pork consumption and mostly benefits meat processors and large, corporate farms. “We continue to have extreme concerns that non-producers will participate in the vote and effect the future of the program,” said Craig Jarolimek, president of the National Pork Producers Council, which opposed holding the referendum.
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