04/30/08 Pork producers go from profit to loss

The National Pork Producers Council president says his industry is in crisis, economic crisis. Bryan Black is asking USDA for immediate financial help in reducing production by ten percent or 600 thousand sows. BLACK "Get some of the sow market moving a little stronger so that we can get those channels moving. The second would be a second 50 million dollar purchase that would be for pork products hopefully into the fall as we anticipate a high run of pigs in the fourth quarter." Idaho Pork Producers president Brad Thornton of Kuna says a combination of factors led to turnaround from profit to loss. THORNTON "Anyone that is raising pigs out on the open market and selling them and buying feed right now is probably losing somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 to 40 dollars a head. We have been producing record numbers of hogs for the last several months so the prices have dropped some. Feed of course. Fuel prices affects the price of everything that we do too." Other requests the national organization made include implementing emergency programs and loan guarantees to help producers purchase feed and allowing early release of non-environmentally sensitive CRP acres without penalty. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott