Government To Stop Pork Farm Loans
Thursday, 24 December 1998
W A S H I N G T O N (AP)
IN HIS latest move to stop the downward spiral of pork prices, Agriculture
Secretary Dan Glickman said Thursday his department will temporarily
stop lending money for new production plants.
The action comes a week after Glickman formed a task force to look at
ways to help hog farmers, struggling with their lowest prices in four
decades. In some parts of the country, prices have dropped to less than
$10 per hundredweight, down from $46.50 just a year ago.
"Because the crux of the problem is oversupply, we want to stop any
government action that could exacerbate the situation," Glickman said in a
radio address.
Glickman's announcement was cheered by American Farm Bureau
Federation President Dean Kleckner.
"The moratorium announced by the secretary on government-backed
credit to build new pork production facilities is another small step but a
good sign that he and his task force are looking for and finding things that,
collectively, will make a difference," Kleckner said in a statement.
To further reduce the oversupply, Glickman said he was working with
members of Congress, governors and the heads of major slaughterhouses
to try to increase the number of hogs that are butchered, thus decreasing
the supply and eventually driving the price up.
In addition, he said he has asked other federal agencies to boost their
purchases of pork. And 50,000 tons of pork are headed for Russia under
the current food aid package, he said.
Glickman also announced an acceleration of a voluntary program to
destroy as many as 1.7 million hogs that could carry the pseudo-rabies
virus, which does not affect humans but is fatal to domestic animals such as
dogs and cats. Being able to certify hogs as virus free would open up other
foreign markets to U.S. pork products, he said.
Meanwhile, Glickman said, farmers can apply for federally guaranteed
loans to help them through the current crisis.
Glickman also asked for an investigation of pork prices, a step that drew
the support of Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the nation's
largest hog state.
"Over the long haul," he said, "the most important announcement may be
the secretary's pledge to investigate noncompetitive practices in the
industry."
And Donna Reifschneider, president of the National Pork Producers
Council, called Glickman's actions a "positive first step."
Last month, the government said it would buy $50 million worth of pork
for the federal food assistance programs to try to boost prices. But prices
have continued to slip. |
