November 21, 2007

US pork board allocates US$51 million to industry

The National Pork Board approved a US$51-million budget for 2008 to address five critical issues affecting the US pork industry.

The 2008 budget was forwarded to the US Secretary of Agriculture for final approval.

The approval process began in July 15 with producer board members identifying the critical issues in the US pork industry.

The five critical issues identified were: the competitive advantage for U.S. pork; the safeguard and expansion of international markets; domestic pork expenditures; the trust and image of the U.S. pork industry; and the development of human capital.

Lynn Harrison, pork producer from Elk Mound and president of the National Pork Board, said approximately 20 percent of the budget will go directly to state pork organizations to allow them to conduct their own activities and to partner with national programmes.

Harrison added that on the national level, they approved 22 new projects representing about US$4.8 million of the budget.

One of the priorities of the pork board is to continuously build trust with customers and improve the overall image of the pork industry. This area alone represents 15 percent of the total programming budget. Customer concerns are addressed in programmes such as Pork Quality Assurance Plus and Operation Main Street.

The new plan and budget also maintains the National Pork Board's commitment to the work with US Meat Export Federation in building export markets for US pork.