Grassley, Kerrey Call on Congress, White House to Address Hog Crisis


Sen. Chuck Grassley today put forward a bi-partisan blueprint for action in Washington aimed at helping the independent pork producer survive the current crisis and continue making a valuable contribution to the ag economy into the future.

Along with Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, Grassley offered a Senate resolution to garner the attention of Congress to the critical situation facing family-sized hog operations.

"Things are so bad that one-third to one-half of the independent producers in business today will not be able to stay in the pork business without a full and sustained recovery in the coming weeks and months," Grassley said. "In addition, the safety net that hogs provided for grain farmers over the years has crumbled and there's not much hope that it can be reconstructed in the near future."

A combination of factors, starting with a 10-percent increase last year in hog production, resulted in the lowest prices for pigs since the Great Depression. A 37 percent increase in Canadian hog imports and the closing of packing plants resulting in a loss of 37,000 head of daily slaughter exacerbated the problems caused by overproduction, despite the fact that retail consumer demand for pork increased by seven percent in the last year.

The Grassley/Kerrey resolution identifies specific initiatives to save producers and prevent a repeat of the current environment. To address current and future needs, the statement calls on Congress and the administration to work together to provide:

  • a supplemental appropriation,
  • additional funding for loan guarantees,
  • an interest rate reduction,
  • a feasibility study of disaster assistance,
  • donation and distribution of pork for humanitarian purposes,
  • increased domestic slaughter capacity,
  • investigation of noncompetitive and antitrust practices in the pork industry,
  • improvement in price reporting in the domestic livestock industry, and
  • paperwork reduction when applying for loan guarantees.

"The efficiency and productivity of Iowa producers has made our state number one in the country for pork production. The family farmer is an integral part of the economic, social and cultural fabric of rural America. With this resolution, we are saying that we are committed to helping those producers survive the current crisis and to creating an environment for the independent farmer to prosper in the future," Grassley said.

Grassley said that he and Kerrey will work together as members of both the Senate agriculture and the tax-writing finance committee to achieve the goals spelled out in the resolution.

The Grassley/Kerrey measure is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Pork Producers Council.