010304 USDA Retains Pork Promotion Program

Washington - The Agriculture Department reached a settlement with a hog producers group to continue a farmer-funded promotion of pork. The deal announced reverses a Clinton administration decision made following a vote by producers.

The government-supervised program, best known for promoting pork as the "Other White Meat," is financed through a fee on hogs.

Farmers voted 15,951 to 14,396 to kill the program in a referendum last fall. But the National Pork Producers Council, which has been partially funded through the fee, contended the referendum was unfair and convinced a federal judge in Michigan to temporarily block the department from shutting down the program.

Under the agreement announced by the department, the council no longer will receive any of the fees, which total about $54 million a year. All of the money, which is used for promotion and research, will be handled by a separate organization, the National Pork Board.

USDA gave the board two years to build support for the program in the industry. Farmers will be surveyed by the department in 2003, and another referendum will be held if at least 15% of producers want one, the threshold under law for holding a vote. Critics of the program say it has mostly benefited large corporate interests to the detriment of small-scale producers.

The department's lawyers decided that last fall's referendum wasn't binding because USDA was unable to validate sufficient petition signatures, said USDA spokesman Kevin Herglotz.

"Through this settlement we have been able to help pork producers across the U.S. maintain their access to promotion, research and education," said Pete Blauwiekel, a Michigan farmer who is a vice president of the council's Michigan affiliate.

The settlement shows the department had "genuine concerns regarding the referendum and the way it was conducted," he said.

The settlement is unlikely to end litigation over the program. Opponents will file suit to end the program, said Rhonda Perry, a Missouri producer who has led a campaign against the fee.

"Hog farmers voted for termination. We're seeing this basically as USDA declaring war against independent hog farmers around the country by not implementing the termination procedures," Perry said.

Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., said Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman "blatantly ignored" the will of farmers in deciding to continue the program.

"If this is an example of how the Bush administration will deal with industry, corporate hog farms, and big agribusiness, it is going to be a long four years for family farmers," Wellstone said.

Herglotz declined to comment on criticism of the settlement.

Former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman decided to hold the referendum even though his department did not validate enough signatures on petitions submitted by farmers who oppose paying the fee.

The pork council said Glickman did not have authority to conduct the vote, and alleged that the referendum was flawed by irregularities. The department's inspector general said the council's allegations were unfounded.

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