May 31, 2023

USDA makes US$50.1 million pork purchase to support food assistance programmes

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently executed a Section 32 purchase of US$50.1 million worth of pork to aid various food nutrition and assistance programmes in the country, Meat + Poultry reported.

This move, as published in the Capital Update from the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), is seen as crucial support for the wholesale pork market, the swine market, and the provision of affordable and nutritious pork products for USDA recipient programmes.

The NPPC commended the USDA's purchase and expressed its commitment to collaborating with the administration to identify additional opportunities that provide support to US pork producers amid the challenging market conditions.

The association said that the US pork industry is currently experiencing one of the worst five-month periods of average losses in the past two decades.

According to the NPPC, the industry's profitability has declined due to consistent or slightly higher swine supplies coupled with weaker demand for wholesale pork, resulting in lower swine prices compared to the previous year.

These factors, combined with record-high production costs, have led to reported industry losses of over US$1.4 billion in the past five months. The losses were calculated by multiplying the average per-head loss by the number of swine slaughtered from November 2022 through March 2023.

The Section 32 provision, established under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 195, grants the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to make commodity purchases, entitlement purchases, and provide disaster assistance using funds allocated from US annual customs receipts.

-      Meat + Poultry