Swine Industry Crisis
Pork is a vital part of American history, economy and everyday life. Behind this longstanding agricultural industry are the producers, processors, and allied industries that all work together to produce what has become the highest quality, safest and most affordable supply of pork and pork products in the world.
Demand for U.S. pork continues to grow and provide opportunities for U.S. producers and processors. The index of U.S. consumer-level demand calculated by Professor Glenn Grimes of University of Missouri rose 2.5% in 2007 and was 5% higher than one year earlier for the period of December 2007 through February 2008. 2007 marked the 16th consecutive record year for U.S. pork exports.
Today the U.S. pork industry is the number one exporter of pork worldwide. This position has been achieved through decades of commitment to improvement in the industry’s practices, including quality, food safety, animal care, and the environment. China, Russia and South Korea accounted for the greatest growth in 2007. The growth is due to increasing incomes in importing countries, the weakening U.S. dollar which makes U.S. pork products cheaper relative to those of competing countries and various animal disease issues that reduced domestic protein supplies and increased demand for U.S. pork. The 1st qtr of 2008 brought record-high monthly shipments as well, with February exports accounting for over 20% of the total US pork production.
Given these success stories, one would think this would be a time for celebration in the U.S. pork industry. Sadly, nothing could be farther from the truth. Today, the pork industry finds itself in an severe financial crisis; one not caused by overproduction or lack of product demand, or slaughter capacity or disease, or any of the traditional reasons that traditionally were in the control of the industry.
Producers Ask Packers, Swine Registries To Require Premises ID
CONTACT: Dave Warner
(202) 347-3600
(202) 641-7559
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 7, 2007 - Moving forward with efforts to implement a national swine identification system, the National Pork Producers Council will ask the marketplace, including meat packers, and swine breed registries to require premises ID numbers from pork producers.
Delegates at NPPC's annual business meeting in Anaheim, Calif., March 3 approved a resolution calling on packers to require premises ID numbers as a condition of sale and on breed registries to require premises ID numbers as part of the registration process. Delegates also passed a resolution stating that producers continue to support a mandatory national ID system.
NPPC and the National Pork Board in 2005 formed a task force, made up of industry stakeholders, to implement a national swine ID system based on the one the pork industry has had since 1988. That system was used to successfully eradicate pseudorabies.
Supported by previously approved delegate resolutions, the task force has called for mandatory premises registration, which includes owner and location data, by Dec. 31, 2007, and mandatory animal IDs for all relevant species by Dec. 31, 2008.
According to an analysis conducted by the National Pork Board, more than 50 percent of pork producers nationwide already have registered their premises.
"Making premises registration part of the marketing and breed registry processes," said NPPC President Jill Appell, a pork producer from Altona, Ill., "will help ensure that we meet our goal of having this important animal-health tool functional by the end of 2008."