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Friday, August 07, 2009
Ind. Gov't. - Nine governors, but not Indiana, seek federal help for pork producers
From a report this afternoon by Mike Glover of the AP:
DES MOINES, Iowa -- The governors of nine key pork-producing states sent President Obama a letter Friday urging him to rescue an industry that's been battered by high commodity prices and worries about disease."Today, the pork industry is facing an economic crisis that is catastrophic in nature," the governors said in the letter. They urged Obama to purchase an additional $50 million in pork for government nutrition programs, eliminate a ceiling on how much surplus product the Agriculture Department can buy and push to expand export markets, primarily to China.
"This is a situation I am taking very seriously," Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said in a conference call with reporters. He was joined by governors from Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Wisconsin in sending the letter.
"We've had a tremendous loss of equity and little or no profit for almost two years," said Dave Moody, of the Iowa Pork Producers Association.
The industry has been hammered by the high costs of corn and soybeans, the primary feed for hogs, but the economic trouble got worse with the swine flu outbreak, also called H1N1.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 7, 2009 04:30 PM
Posted to Environment | Indiana Government