May 7, 2024
US pork producers pressed lawmakers on criticial issues at conference in Washington, DC
About 100 pork producers in the United States participated in the National Pork Producers Council's (NPPC) spring Legislative Action Conference in Washington, DC.
At the event, they lobbied lawmakers on several issues important to the US pork industry.
NPPC staff also updated producers on the economic state of the US pork industry, the USDA pilot programme allowing faster processing line speeds at packing plants, the use of MRNA vaccine technology in livestock production and efforts to enhance the industry's live swine traceability system, according to an NPPC news release.
During visits with lawmakers, producers asked members of the US Congress to:
- Include in the next farm bill a legislative fix to California Proposition 12, which bans sales in the state of pork from hogs born to sows raised in housing that does not meet California's standards. NPPC president Lori Stevermer penned an op-ed on new USDA research data showing increased prices — attributed to Prop. 12 — for bacon, ribs and loins (the three most purchased products on a volume basis);
- Renew and expand key farm bill programmes that benefit US agriculture, including ones that address foreign animal diseases like the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program, National Veterinary Stockpile and National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank;
- Reform the process for securing TN visas, which are widely used to staff hog farm jobs, and expand H-2A visas to year-round agricultural workers to address a farm labor shortage;
- Add language in any appropriations bill to defund the promulgation, implementation and enforcement of a series of pending new Packers and Stockyards Act rulemakings that could encourage frivolous litigation and change the requirement to show harm to competition;
- Support the Beagle Brigade Act to provide congressional authority to the USDA's National Detector Dog Training Center, which trains canines used at US ports of entry to detect agricultural contraband;
- Sign a congressional letter to the US Trade Representative urging them to engage counterparts and utilise all tools available to ensure South Africa provides fair market access for US pork, as outlined in the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
"South Africa is failing to live up to the market access commitments it negotiated in 2016 when it was being considered for inclusion in AGOA, which allows eligible sub-Saharan African countries to export goods to the United States duty-free," NPPC said in a news release.
- Iowa Farmer Today
