United States-Damage done by media frenzy to the pork industry.

UNITED STATES-FARMERS NEED HELP AFTER MEDIA FRENZY.

U.S. is funding L.A. -to Las Vegas Rail without a Market Study, and Paying for Tattoo Removal as ’Stimulus’;

the Feds are Spending Trillions to Bail out Bad Banks, Insurance Companies, and a Poorly Run Auto Industry; How about Helping an Industry Hit by an Economic Tsunami it Didn’t Cause?

Richard Ellinghuysen

Vice President, Producers Livestock

April 30, 2009

It’s time for the federal government to step in quickly and provide funds to help U.S. pork producers who are being crushed by an event that they did not create, but threatens to be their demise.

A storm as economically devastating as Hurricane Katrina is roaring across the U.S. pork industry and causing financial devastation to a business segment that didn’t build below sea level, didn’t engage in risky sub-prime mortgages, and didn’t build a product that struggles to compete in the world market. Despite this, the U.S. pork industry and hog operations have had millions of dollars sucked away because the virus H1N1 is called "swine flu," and fears of illness and a global pandemic have resulted in unwarranted bans against U.S. pork -- even though you can’t catch the virus from eating pork. Reality has been replaced by fear and emotion. Unfortunately that means equity is being replaced by financial ruin for many pork producers.

The U.S. Pork industry is a proud one. The industry doesn’t ask for bailouts or handouts, and instead lobbies for free trade agreements and a level playing field in order to compete in an open market. And that’s as it should be. But today the industry is facing something new, unpredicted and unexpected. And I think that the federal government should provide disaster aid to the hog production segment of the U.S. economy.

I’m no politician and don’t know the best form for this aid to take, or even the amount. I’ll bet $15.00 head per market hog sold by a producer during calendar year 2008 in the form of disaster aid, would help out. Pork producers have been suffering from losses for the past 18 months and have been waiting and hoping for the seasonal upswing in the market. Now hope for an upturn has instead become a downturn, and not only are producers not "healing" they’re getting sicker financially, and some will not survive.

I’m not talking about an insignificant industry here. According to Texas AgriLife Extension Service economist, Dr David Anderson:

· The US had 67.22 million hogs and pigs on feed as of 1 March.

· Approximately 116.5 million hogs were processed in the US in 2008.

· 23.4 billion pounds of pork were produced in the US in 2008.

· US per capita consumption in 2008 was an estimated 46.5 pounds, retail weight.

· Texas had a population of 1.1 million hogs and pigs as of 1 December 2008.

· The US is the world’s largest pork exporter, with a 39 per cent market share in 2008.

· In 2008 the largest export markets for US pork were Japan , China , Mexico and Russia in 2008.

· The US also exported the equivalent of 20 per cent of production in 2008.

Chris Hurt, agricultural economist at Purdue University , said U.S. hog producers have experienced three traumatic events in the past year. Using an analogy to baseball, he said the first strike against producers was the record high grain prices last summer. The second strike was the onset of the world financial crisis in the autumn. For some, the outbreaks of the new flu will be the third and final strike, he said.

Hurt estimated that from 25% to 33% of the nation’s hog producers may be forced to seriously reconsider their positions in the industry. He also said the effects of such historical events on the market can linger for several weeks, or even longer.

It seems to me that a country that can bailout bad business enterprises because they’re important to the economy, can certainly fund one-time disaster aid to an industry that works hard, plays by the rules, and is getting hammered by an event not of its own making. If you agree, don’t call me. Call your Senators and Representatives in Congress and tell them. Time if of the essence.