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Farmers and Ranchers Back House Spending Bill
Approve Trade Agreements Now, NPPC Urges
Lawmakers Say Scrap Proposed GIPSA Rule
Pass FTAs, Allow Trucking Program, NPPC Says
Pork Associations Urge Vote Soon On Trade Deals
Farmers and Ranchers Back House Spending Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 31, 2011– The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the National Turkey Federation (NTF) today praised House lawmakers for including language in an agriculture funding bill that would prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from implementing its proposed regulation on livestock and poultry marketing.
The House Appropriations Committee this evening voted to approve legislation that funds USDA, the Food and Drug Administration and related agencies for fiscal year 2012, which begins Oct. 1, but denies money for USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) to promulgate the proposed livestock and marketing regulation.
NCBA President Bill Donald, a Melville, Mont. rancher, said the legislation will prevent government intervention into the private marketplace.
“This is the first step in preventing an unprecedented government invasion into the private marketplace. Big government has invaded banking, healthcare and more. The last thing we need is the federal government setting up shop on cattle ranches throughout the country,” said Donald. “The marketplace works well without government intrusion and this legislation is proof that many in Congress feel the same way.”
John Burkel, NTF’s secretary-treasurer and a turkey farmer from Badger, Minn., said the GIPSA rule will result in job losses and negatively impact a variety of farmers, including limiting their ability to enter into marketing agreements. The provision affects all farmers and ranchers.
“The more than 1,000 family farmers who raise turkeys in this country rely on production and marketing contracts to make a living. As one of those farmers, I commend the House Appropriations Committee for putting the brakes on this rule,” said Burkel. “If the final rule were implemented, it could result in a fundamental change in the way turkeys are raised in this country, a change that I don’t think would benefit farmers. This rule is so flawed it can’t be fixed, and Congress is right to try and scrap this rule, insisting that GIPSA go back to the specific provisions agreed to in the 2008 Farm Bill.”
Along with government intrusion into private business, the organizations also criticized the rulemaking process. USDA initially allowed just 60 days for public comments to be submitted and did not conduct an economic analysis of the rule. The agency also issued a “clarifying” document on the regulation in the middle of the comment period. While it subsequently agreed to perform a cost-benefit analysis, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has denied requests to open the analysis to public comments despite a bipartisan letter from 147 members of Congress.
“The Obama administration said it would be open and transparent, but on this rule, USDA has not been,” said NPPC President Doug Wolf, a pork producer from Lancaster, Wis. “The language in the agriculture appropriations bill will give livestock and poultry producers a much-needed timeout on the GIPSA rule and prompt the agency to write a regulation consistent with what Congress asked it to do and to adhere to the law in writing a new rule.”
Approve Trade Agreements Now, NPPC Urges
Washington, May 24 - In a press conference today on Capitol Hill, the National Pork Producers Council urged the Obama administration to send to Congress implementing legislation for and lawmakers to approve the free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.
NPPC joined with the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and National Corn Growers Association in calling for action on the FTAs.
“For us to remain a successful and viable industry,” said Doug Wolf, NPPC president and pork producer from Lancaster, Wis., “we need new and expanded market access. And the way to get that is through free trade agreements.”
For the U.S. pork industry, the deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea will add more than $11 to the price producers receive for each hog and would generate more than 10,000 jobs, according to Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes.
Wolf also warned about the perils of not approving the trade agreements.
“We need to implement these FTAs now,” Wolf said, “because while these deals have languished for more than three years, our competitors have negotiated their own trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, and the United States has lost market share in those countries.”
Iowa State’s Hayes has estimated that the U.S. pork industry would be out of all three markets in 10 years if the United States fails to implement the FTAs and Colombia, Panama and South Korea move forward on trade deals with other nations. The United States would lose thousands of jobs under such a scenario.
“Our industry can’t afford that; our country can’t afford that,” said Wolf.
Exports are vital to the U.S. pork industry, which last year shipped nearly $4.8 billion of pork, an amount that added about $56 to the price producers received for each hog marketed.
In a relted matter, Wolf urged Congress to allow to go forward a U.S. Department of Transportation program that will allow Mexican trucks to haul goods into the United States. Mexico has agreed to lift tariffs on $2.4 billion of U.S. goods, including pork, once the program is implemented.
Lawmakers Say Scrap Proposed GIPSA Rule
Washington, May 18, 2011 -The National Pork Producers Council praised the 147 House lawmakers who today urged U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to withdrawal a proposed rule on buying and selling livestock and poultry and to propose a regulation “more consistent with the intent of Congress outlined in the 2008 Farm Bill.”
The 2008 Farm Bill authorized USDA to promulgate regulations under the Packers and Stockyards Act to address five specific areas related to livestock and poultry contracts. The rule would be administered by USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration and is known as the GIPSA rule.
In a bipartisan letter to the secretary, the House members also asked that revisions to the proposed rule and an economic analysis of the regulation be open for public comment “before a final or interim final rule is published.”
“America’s pork producers are grateful to the nearly 150 House members who asked that the proposed GIPSA rule be withdrawn,” said NPPC President Doug Wolf, a pork producer from Lancaster, Wis. “As written, the regulation would be bad for producers, bad for consumers and bad for rural America.
“In writing the GIPSA rule, USDA went well beyond what Congress asked it to do,” added Wolf. “And the regulation it came up with will cost the U.S. pork industry nearly $400 million a year, limit farmers’ ability to sell animals, dictate the terms of private contracts, make it harder to get farm financing, raise consumer prices and reduce choices, stifle innovation and lead to more vertical integration of the pork industry.”
Said the lawmakers in their letter: “It is troubling that the Department appears to be using the rule-making process to accomplish objectives specifically rejected by Congress, and we are confident any such rule will not be looked upon favorably by Congress.”
NPPC gave particular praise to Reps. Jim Costa, D-Calif., and Reid Ribble, R-Wis., for working to get their colleagues to sign on to the letter to Vilsack.
Pass FTAs, Allow Trucking Program, NPPC Says
Washington, May 12, 2011 - For the third time in a little more than a month, the National Pork Producers Council testified before Congress in support of pending free trade agreements that will add significantly to pork producers’ bottom line.
NPPC, at a hearing today held by the House Agriculture Committee, urged passage of the FTAs with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. The deals, when fully implemented, will generate more than $770 million in additional pork exports, increase hog prices by more than $11 per head and create more than 10,000 U.S. pork industry jobs, according to Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes.
Sam Carney, a pork producer from Adair, Iowa, and immediate past president of NPPC, who testified on behalf of the organization, said, “We need to approve these FTAs as soon as possible because other pork exporting competitors, like the EU (European Union) and Canada, are moving forward with their own FTAs” with those countries.
“Losing these markets would mean lost value to the hogs I sell, which would translate into less profits and ultimately lost jobs,” added Carney, who also is chairman of NPPC’s trade policy committee.
NPPC also called on U.S. trade negotiators to insist that other countries, including Russia, Thailand and Vietnam, eliminate their import restrictions on, and non-science-based barriers to, U.S. pork.
In his testimony, Carney urged Congress to allow to go forward a U.S. Department of Transportation program that will allow Mexican trucks to haul goods into the United States. Implementation of the program will resolve a long-standing North American Free Trade Agreement dispute between the United States and Mexico, which placed tariffs on $2.4 billion of U.S. goods, including pork, because of the failure of the United States to live up to its NAFTA obligation on trucking.
Carney also criticized the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposed regulation on buying and selling livestock – the GIPSA rule.
“The bottom line,” he said, “is the rule will raise my costs and make the U.S. pork industry less competitive in the global market, and that will mean lost U.S. jobs.
“To continue as leaders in the global and domestic economies,” Carney concluded, “the U.S. pork industry needs free and fair trade and domestic policies that support America’s pork producers.”
Pork Associations Urge Vote Soon On Trade Deals
Washington, May 9, 2011 - The National Pork Producers Council and 39 state pork associations in a letter sent today to Republican and Democrat leaders in the Senate and House urged lawmakers to approve three pending free trade agreements.
The groups asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to vote on FTAs with Colombia, Panama and South Korea “as soon as possible after receiving [from the White House] the enabling legislation.”
“Colombia, Panama and South Korea are crucial markets for U.S. agricultural products, and the industry stands to gain sales with implementation of the FTAs,” said NPPC President Doug Wolf, a pork producer from Lancaster, Wis. “For the U.S. pork industry, the trade agreements with those countries will add significantly to producers’ bottom line and create thousands of pork industry jobs.”
According to Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes, by full implementation, the three FTAs combined will generate more than $770 million in additional pork exports annually, causing live hog prices to increase by $11.35 and creating more than 10,200 direct pork industry jobs.
In their letter, NPPC and the state pork associations pointed out that “[i]f the U.S. fails to implement the three FTAs, however, these potential gains will become losses as we relinquish our export sales to countries that have implemented their own FTAs with Colombia, Panama and Korea.”
The United States already has lost sales in Colombia because of that country’s FTAs with other nations. Its share of the Colombian agricultural market has fallen to 27 percent in 2009 from 44 percent in 2007. And Chile, through its 2004 FTA with South Korea, has increased its market share in the Asian nation because of its tariff advantage over other major pork exporting countries. Chile’s import tariffs on pork going to South Korea will go to zero by 2014.
Without Obstacles, Pork Industry Can Thrive
Washington, May 4, 2011 - The U.S. pork industry can continue to be a leader in food production and meet domestic and world demand for pork as long as exports continue to grow, feed grains are available and producers are allowed to operate without undue legislative and regulatory burdens, said the National Pork Producers Council in congressional testimony given today.
NPPC President Doug Wolf, a pork producer from Lancaster, Wis., told the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry that the U.S. pork industry is doing well but has concerns about issues that could jeopardize its continued success.
He pointed out that exports have been a boon to the U.S. pork industry, which is the world’s No. 1 exporter of pork. But, he said, “the industry will not stay in that position if competitor countries cut trade deals in key markets and the United States does not.”
NPPC urged lawmakers to approve the pending free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. The deals, when fully implemented, will generate more than $770 million in additional pork exports, increase hog prices by more than $11 per head and create more than 10,000 U.S. pork industry jobs, according to Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes.
Wolf cautioned the panel that, as good as exports can continue to be for the industry, “they will do little good if domestic policies hamper producers’ ability to operate.”
He mentioned two issues: the availability of feed for animals and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposed regulation on buying and selling livestock – the GIPSA rule.
Tight feed-grain supplies, driven in part by subsidized ethanol production, could cause spot shortages of feed this year, and producers are worried that a weather event in the Corn Belt, for example, could affect next crop year’s – 2011-2012 – supplies. NPPC requested USDA to address the potential crisis, but the agency has taken no action.
On the GIPSA rule, Wolf said one study found it would cost the pork industry alone nearly $400 million annually and could force producers like him out of business. NPPC has asked USDA to scrap the rule, to write a regulation on only the five topics
Congress told it to address in the 2008 Farm Bill and to conduct an economic analysis – open to public comment – of any rule before it is finalized.
NPPC Names Wagstrom Chief Veterinarian
Washington, May 2, 2011 - The National Pork Producers Council has named Dr. Liz Wagstrom as its chief veterinarian; she will begin her duties May 16. Wagstrom will be located in NPPC’s Washington, D.C., office.
Wagstrom, an internationally recognized expert on pig health, food safety and zoonoses, most recently was associate professor with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Animal Health and Food Safety. Prior to that, she worked for the National Pork Board, first as director of Veterinary Services and more recently as assistant vice president for Science and Technology. Wagstrom also served as an epidemiologist and public health veterinarian for the Minnesota Department of Health.
“Dr. Wagstrom brings a unique set of qualifications and perspectives, an in-depth knowledge of U.S. pork production and swine research and a long-standing relationship with the public health community,” said Audrey Adamson, NPPC vice president of domestic policy issues. “At NPPC, she will have a broad portfolio, including domestic and international animal health and welfare, on-farm production and public health and food-safety issues.”
Wagstrom received a bachelor’s degree in animal science and agricultural economics from the University of Minnesota and earned her doctorate in veterinary medicine and master’s degree in veterinary preventive medicine from Iowa State University. She is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine.
“NPPC is very pleased Dr. Wagstrom is joining our staff,” said NPPC CEO Neil Dierks. “Her background, knowledge and skills make her a valuable resource for U.S. pork producers and the U.S. pork industry.”
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