010231 Hog Farmers Fear Loss of Ad ProgramFebruary 21, 2001Dayton, OH - The loss of a national pork advertising program would leave some farmers without a way to promote their product and speak with a unified voice, some pork producers in Ohio said. “Who's going to advertise our product?” said Don Magoteaux, a Greenville farmer attending the Ohio Pork Congress. The $54 million program, which started in 1986 and also pays for research, was responsible for the campaign “Pork, the Other White Meat.” It is financed through a mandatory fee, or checkoff, of 45 cents for every $100 of a hog's value when it is sold. In a referendum last year, hog farmers nationwide voted 15,951 to 14,396 to kill the program. Opponents say the checkoff has done little to stimulate pork consumption and mostly benefits pork processors and large corporate farms. Slightly more Ohio hog farmers voted against the checkoff than those who supported it - 1,026 to 1,009. Other states have also expressed concerns about the dismantling of the program. The Ohio Pork Producers Council counts on the program for 75% of its budget. President Bryan Black said hanging in the balance are educational programs for farmers and marketing power. He said the program has increased consumption and quality. “If it wouldn't have been for us, some of them wouldn't have gone into McDonalds and said, 'Bacon on that cheeseburger would taste pretty good,”' he said. “And now you can't go into a restaurant without seeing a bacon cheeseburger.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which supervises the program, released the results of the vote Jan. 11. A federal judge in Kalamazoo, Mich., has temporarily blocked the government from killing the program after the National Pork Producers Council filed a lawsuit seeking to keep the checkoff alive. Black said the Ohio council is not going to wait for the outcome of the court case. He said the group plans to see if farmers want to establish their own checkoff program, creating a mandatory association that serves the Ohio pork industry as a whole. The other option, he said, is to have a voluntary organization that serves only its members. Other states are considering similar efforts.
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