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SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE AGREES TO WALZ REQUEST, TAKES SWIFT ACTION TO ASSIST AMERICA’S PORK PRODUCERS
For Immediate Release
May 1, 2008
Contact: Meredith Salsbery
507-388-2149
WASHINGTON D.C. — Congressman Walz said today that he is pleased that the Secretary of Agriculture has agreed to his request that USDA take action to help address the growing crisis in the pork industry.
On April 10, Congressman Walz sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Schafer, urging him to make purchases of pork products for USDA’s nutrition programs to help pork producers throughout the country who are experiencing serious economic difficulty due to high input costs and low cash hog prices.
“I am pleased that the Secretary has agreed to my request and will be purchasing up to $50 million in pork products for child nutrition and other domestic food assistance programs,” Walz said. “These purchases will help to stabilize hog prices and mitigate the economic losses faced by our producers in southern Minnesota.”
Minnesota’s First Congressional District ranks second in the United States in pork production. More than 2,500 pork producers, who raise 9 million hogs each year, make their home in southern Minnesota. The industry employs approximately 22,500 Minnesotans and generates more than $7 billion in economic activity for Minnesota.
Earlier this month, wholesale pork prices hit the lowest level in four years. This comes at a time when producers are paying record high prices for energy, feed and trucking. By most estimates, producers are losing between $30 – 50 per head which could account for about a $3.5 billion loss for the United States pork industry this year.
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