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Agency Will Purchase Additional Pork Products for Federal Food Programs
Sept. 3, 2009 – The North Carolina Pork Council (NCPC) today praised U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for his decision to lend assistance to the U.S. pork industry to help it weather a nearly 2-year-old economic crisis that has put some producers out of business.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agreed to purchase up to $30 million of pork products, which will be used for various federal food programs. Secretary Vilsack, who heard from hundreds of hurting pork producers, announced the pork buy today.
“The pork purchase being made by USDA will be a big help to the pork producers in North Carolina,” said NCPC President George Pettus. “We’re pleased that Secretary Vilsack has taken this important first step to help the North Carolina pork industry, which contributes more than $9 billion to the state’s economy and more than 46,000 full-time jobs.”
In an Aug. 17 letter to the secretary, the National Pork Producers Council and NCPC urged USDA to take immediate action to address a crisis that since September 2007 has seen producers losing an average of more than $21 on each hog marketed. The pork industry has lost more than $4.6 billion in equity over the past two years. The organizations asked the agency to:
• Purchase immediately an additional $50 million of pork for various federal food programs, using fiscal 2009 funds. Fiscal 2009 ends Sept. 30. (USDA annually buys pork for food programs; it bought $62.6 million worth in 2008, for example.)
• Urge Congress to lift a spending cap on Section 32 funds, and use $50 million of $350 million available to purchase pork for the program, which uses customs receipts to buy non-price-supported commodities for food programs.
• Buy on Oct. 1 a minimum of $50 million of pork, using fiscal 2010 funds. Fiscal 2010 begins Oct. 1. The purchase would be in addition to USDA’s annual buy.
• Use $100 million of the $1 billion appropriated for addressing the H1N1 virus for the swine industry, including $70 million for swine disease surveillance, $10 million for diagnostics and H1N1 vaccine development and$20 million for industry support.
• Work with the U.S. Trade Representative to open export markets to U.S. pork. Several countries, including China, continue to impose unwarranted bans on U.S. pork, citing the H1N1 flu.
• Study the economic impact on the livestock industry of an expansion of corn-ethanol production and usage. EPA has proposed raising the cap on blending ethanol into gasoline to 15 percent from its current 10 percent.
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About NCPC: The North Carolina Pork Council (NCPC) is the statewide advocacy organization that was chartered in 1962 to support producer and allied industry partners within the North Carolina pork industry. Today, the pork industry provides over 46,000 full time jobs and $9 billion to North Carolina’s economy. Representing 2,300 farms, NCPC is both a center of knowledge for pork producers and an advocate for professionalism and high social, ethical, and environmental standards in the pork industry. NCPC provides access to meaningful educational programs and services and leadership in public and industry affairs.
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