National Pork Producers Council: TPP must be approved

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is strongly supporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, with its president-elect calling the agreement “the biggest commercial opportunity ever.”
John Weber, NPPC president-elect, joined leaders from the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, U.S. Grains Council and National Association of Wheat Growers during a November 11 press conference to stress how greatly TPP would benefit U.S. agriculture.
“America’s pork producers strongly and unequivocally support the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and we will urge Congress to pass it quickly,” said Weber.
Negotiators from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam on October 5 approved the free-trade agreement, which now awaits congressional approval. The text of TPP was just released on November 5.
While Weber admits that no trade agreements are perfect, he stresses that TPP is the best one proposed to date.
“We’re confident it will provide enormous new market opportunities for high-quality U.S. pork products,” said Weber. “It is by far the biggest commercial opportunity ever for U.S. pork production and U.S. pork producers like myself, and especially for those like my son and my young herdsman who will be the next generation of pork producers and will see the full potential of this agreement. This agreement will dramatically exceed all previous U.S. free trade agreements.”
Citing estimates from Iowa State University Economist Dermot Hayes, Weber said the U.S. will see exponential growth in pork exports to the other 11 TPP countries, and those new exports alone will create 10,000 U.S. jobs.
Other factors members of Congress need to keep in mind, Weber said, are that additional countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand have expressed an interest in joining TPP, and that competing nations are negotiating free-trade deals in the Asia-Pacific region that do not include the United States.
When the panel was asked about their views on the likelihood of TPP’s passage, Brett Blankenship, president of the National Association of Wheat Growers, said he was optimistic it would be approved.

Ron Prestage named president of NPPC

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) has elected new officers and members to its board of directors at its annual business meeting – the National Pork Industry Forum – held in San Antonio, Texas, March 5-7. Elected as president of the organization was Dr. Ron Prestage, a pork and turkey producer from Camden, South Carolina.
Prestage is part of the family-owned Prestage Farms, which includes hogs, turkeys, cattle and cropland for hay. He’s primarily responsible for the sows and turkeys on the farms in South Carolina and a swine operation in Mississippi.
Elected as president-elect was John Weber, a pork producer from Dysart, Iowa. In addition to raising hogs for Cargill, he manages with his son Valley Lane Farms Inc., a grain and livestock operation.
Ken Maschhoff, a pork producer from Carlyle, Illinois, was picked as vice president. Maschhoff is chairman of Maschhoff Family Foods and co-owner and chairman of The Maschhoffs, the third-largest pork producer in the United States.
New members elected to the board for three-year terms were Kraig Westerbeek, Warsaw, North Carolina; and Dale Reicks, New Hampton, Iowa. They join current directors Kent Bang, Omaha, Nebraska – who is the allied industry representative – Phil Borgic, Nokomis, Illinois; Jim Compart, Nicollet, Minnesota; Jim Heimerl, Johnstown, Ohio; David Herring, Lillington, North Carolina; Bill Kessler, Mexico, Missouri; AV Roth, Wauzeka, Wisconsin;and Terry Wolters, Pipestone, Minnesota. Heimerl and Kessler were re-elected to the board for another three-year term.
Also elected to the board for a two-year term as the Packer Processor Industry Council representative was Cory Bollum, with Hormel Foods Corp. in Austin, Minnesota.
Scott Hayes, of Monroe City, Missouri;and Brandon Schafer, of Goodhue, Minnesota, were elected for two-year terms to NPPC’s Nominating Committee.
“In Ron, John and Ken, we have some great leadership at the helm of NPPC, and the pork industry has some thoughtful innovators,” said NPPC CEO Neil Dierks. “And the addition of Kraig and Dale to the NPPC board gives us some good young leaders who will help take the industry into the future.”

NPPC urges resolution to West Coast labor dispute

The National Pork Producers Council and 92 other food, agricultural and allied industry groups today urged the parties involved in a labor dispute that’s affecting food exports that ship out of West Coast ports to resolve their differences as soon as possible. The organizations also called on the federal government to consider all remedies to bring the dispute to a swift end.
Slowdowns by dock workers at the ports in Long Beach, Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif., and in Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., have stranded thousands of containers of pork and other farm products over the past several months. Since November, pork prices, for example, have tumbled by 20 percent in large part because of the port problem, and meat and other perishable products awaiting shipment soon may need to be destroyed or discounted and sold on the domestic market. One estimate has the U.S. meat and poultry industries losing more than $30 million a week.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) have been unable to hammer out a new contract since the last one expired in July. Although the ILWU initially agreed to continue sending workers to the ports during the contract negotiations, in November it reneged on that agreement.
Exports of agricultural products have grown to $144 billion in 2013 from $46 million in 1994, with much of the growth in Asian markets, which are most directly affected by the ports slowdowns.
In an open letter to the White House, congressional lawmakers, the PMA and the ILWU, NPPC and the other organizations pointed out that the increase in food and agriculture products exported has been very beneficial to the companies that own West Coast ports and to the dock workers. “But the apparent indifference by [the PMA and the ILWU] to the impact the slowdowns are having on our sectors is disturbing,” the groups wrote.

Ronald Prestage pleads guilty to lesser charges in gun case

Ronald Prestage, president of Prestage Farms of South Carolina and president-elect of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), has plead guilty to lesser charges in a case where he attempted to enter a federal building in Washington, D.C., with a loaded handgun.
The pork and turkey company executive earlier had entered a not guilty plea to a charge of carrying a pistol outside his home or business, which is a felony in Washington, D.C. On October 21, he pleaded guilty to possessing an unregistered firearm and ammunition. The guilty plea carries with it a suspended sentence of 30 days in jail and six months unsupervised probation. He must also register as a gun offender in Washington, D.C., and pay $100 to a crime victims’ compensation fund, according to The Island Packet.
The plea stems from a July 23 incident, when Prestage attempted to enter the Cannon House Office Building with a 9-millimeter Ruger handgun in his bag. Prestage holds a concealed-carry permit in his home state of South Carolina, and according to his attorney, carries a firearm for protection because he has received death threats from animal rights and environmental activists.
Prestage said outside the courtroom he regretted that he took his handgun into the federal building, and that the incident “was totally unintentional.”
In addition to his roles with Prestage Farms and the NPPC, Prestage is also a trustee for North Carolina State University and a member of the National Turkey Federation’s executive committee.

Prestage Farms executive pleads not guilty to gun charge

Pork and turkey company executive Ronald William Prestage has pleaded not guilty to charges of carrying a pistol outside his home or business, a felony in Washington, D.C. The president of Prestage Farms of South Carolina and president-elect of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) was arrested a day earlier after allegedly trying to enter the Cannon House Office Building with a handgun.
Prestage, 59, appeared with attorney Robert Spagnoletti on July 24 in D.C. Superior Court. Spagnoletti entered the plea and requested a speedy trial, according to The State. Prestage was released until his next court appearance. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for August 13.
Prestage holds a concealed-carry permit in his home state of South Carolina, but concealed-carry permits are not issued in Washington, D.C., and open carry there is prohibited.
Prestage was searched as a matter of routine as he entered the federal building, and an officer allegedly found a loaded 9-millimeter Ruger handgun in his bag. Prestage was believed to have been on his way to meet with members of South Carolina’s congressional delegation. An NPPC spokesperson said that Prestage was not representing the pork organization while he was in the nation’s capital.
Prestage Farms has pork and turkey operations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

Pork, turkey company executive Prestage arrested on gun charge

Ronald William Prestage, president of Prestage Farms of South Carolina and president-elect of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), was arrested July 23 after allegedly trying to enter a federal building in Washington, D.C., with a handgun in his bag. Prestage was charged with carrying a handgun outside a home or office, which is a felony.
Concealed-carry permits are not issued in Washington, D.C., and open carry there is prohibited, according to usacarry.com.
Officer Shennell S. Antrobus, a spokesman for the U.S. Capitol Police, told the Washington Post that the incident occurred about 9:20 a.m. at the Rotunda entrance. He said the pork and turkey company executive was searched as a matter of routine and an officer found the loaded 9-millimeter Ruger handgun in his bag. Prestage, who reportedly has a concealed-carry permit in South Carolina, was believed to have been on his way to a meeting inside the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C., when he was apprehended.
The entrance to the building was reportedly closed after Prestage tried to enter, but was reopened about an hour later.
Dave Warner, a spokesman for NPPC, told the Post that Prestage’s visit to the Cannon Building did not involve the pork organization. Prestage is scheduled to take over as president of NPPC in March 2015.
Prestage Farms has pork and turkey operations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

National Pork Producers Council responds to allegations of unlawful lobbying

The National Pork Producers Council has responded to allegations from the Humane Society of the United States regarding unlawful checkoff lobbying, saying that there appears to be no legal merit to the claim, according to reports.
The Humane Society filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of the Inspector General, asking for an investigation into the National Pork Board's potential use of checkoff dollars to support the council's lobbying efforts. “This is the latest bullying tactic by the HSUS in its efforts to force the NPPC to abandon its position on allowing farmers to choose pig production practices that are best for the welfare of their animals," said the council.
"Over the past few months, the HSUS has threatened the NPPC with a Federal Trade Commission complaint; filed notice of its intent to sue a number of hog operations over alleged emissions reporting violations; and charged that the NPPC was responsible for the deaths of hogs in barn fires because the organization asked to give input on national fire standards for agricultural facilities. All of the allegations lack merit.”

Pork producers council supports new provision of price reporting law

The National Pork Producers Council has said they support the release of a final rule to implement the wholesale pork reporting provision of the federal mandatory price reporting law, which requires meat packers to report price data to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service.
The rule outlines what information packers will be required to submit to the Agricultural Marketing Service, how the information should be submitted and other requirements. Packers will be required to submit the price of each sale, quantity and other characteristics, such as the type of sale, item description and destination of the product. The Agricultural Marketing Service will use the data to produce timely, meaningful market reports.

“America’s pork producers are grateful for the USDA’s cooperation in helping develop this valuable tool for pork producers since it is becoming increasingly common to sell hogs based on the cutout price,” said council President R.C. Hunt. “This important addition to the price reporting law allows for a more competitive market and will provide greater transparency in the livestock market.”

National Pork Producers Council supports US–EU free trade agreement

A coalition of food and agricultural organizations led by the National Pork Producers Council expressed its support for a free trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union in a letter sent to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
“Carried out properly, such an agreement would indeed generate economic growth and create many thousands of new jobs on both sides of the Atlantic," said the coalition. “Of course, this would require that the EU be prepared to negotiate and implement the type of high-standard, 21st-century agreement that is central to the [U.S. President Barack Obama] administration’s trade policy efforts."
The coalition also said that EU regulatory measures often conflict with the interests of the U.S. and with World Trade Organization rules, including regulations on “genetically modified” crop approval and labels, which restrict U.S. corn, soy and refined corn product exports and restrictions on production methods in poultry — antimicrobial use — and pork — ractopamine.
Nearly 50 organizations signed the letter to the Trade Representative's office

US livestock, poultry organizations oppose ethanol subsidies and protective tariffs

A consortium comprising the American Meat Institute, National Cattleman’s Beef Association, National Chicken Council, National Pork Producer’s Council and the National Turkey Federation addressed a letter to the Senate majority and minority leaders in mid-July opposing continuation of the tax credits and protective tariffs relating to ethanol production, which are due to expire at the end of 2010.
The letter specified that ethanol production will absorb 4.5 billion bushels of corn from the 2009-2010 harvest. Diversion of corn has resulted in escalation in feed costs, which has severely impacted the volume and profitability of intensive animal production.
Although the unprecedented corn price of almost $8 per bushel has declined, it is estimated that feed costs for 2010 will be 25% higher than the costs prevailing during the first six years following 2000. Economists affiliated with the animal production groups estimated that the pork industry was subjected to more than $6.2 billion in losses from October 2007 through January 2010 and the beef industry lost $7 billion over the same period.
The cumulative additional cost to broiler production has amounted to $15 billion from the fall of 2006 to the spring of 2010. The August 2009 U.S. Accountability Office Report “Bio-fuels-Potential Effects and Challenges have Required Increases in Production and Use” projected the annual cost to the Treasury for the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) of $4 billion in 2008 and $6.8 billion in 2015. It is further estimated that the cost to taxpayers of using ethanol to reduce gasoline consumption was $1.78 per gallon.
To place biofuels production in perspective, the July 28 Weekly Ethanol Report from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) documented an average daily production of 34.2 million gallons for the week ending July 23, 2010. Based on gasoline production of 404.5 million gallons, ethanol inclusion represented 8.5%.
The ethanol industry, according to experts, would benefit if the so-called “blend ceiling” as mandated by the federal government were to be increased from 10% (which it has not currently achieved) to a value of 15% as requested. The RFA has joined with the National Corn Growers’ Association and the American Coalition for Ethanol to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to approve the immediate use of E12 and a full waiver for the use of E15 in all vehicles.
The debate continues and the decision of Congress will obviously be influenced by the weight of lobbying and the concerns of vested interests on both sides of the issue.

Ag goups ask gov. to leave Farm Credit System alone

The National Pork Producers Council and 22 other national agriculture groups recently sent a letter to Congress, encouraging them not to change the Farm Credit System.
The letter, addressed to Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., highlighted a letter sent last year asking that “the Farm Credit System not be swept up in any effort to resolve problems with the housing GSEs, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the commercial banking or securities regulatory structure. Including Farm Credit in these legislative initiatives would undermine the mission that the Agriculture Committees gave Farm Credit some 90 years ago.”
The organizations take issue with the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), that established a federal agency given broad authority to oversee the provision of credit and financial products and services to consumers. The letter states:
"While the language of the proposed legislation does not specifically reference the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), the Farm Credit System or the Farm Credit Act, the language of the bill impacts Farm Credit directly. The definitions of 'credit,' 'consumer financial product,' 'covered person,' 'financial activity,' 'leasing,' 'financial product or service,' all capture the Farm Credit System and how it conducts business. Under the bill, Farm Credit System institutions are treated no differently than unregulated finance companies rather than the highly regulated set of federally chartered institutions that they are."
"We ask that you take whatever steps are necessary to keep the Farm Credit System out of larger financial institution reform efforts."

British pork sales up

According to reports, the British Pig Executive (BPEX) has released figures showing strong consumer purchases of bacon up 7.9%. Also, favorable purchasing was indicated for fresh pork and sausages, up 5.3% and 2%, respectively.
These numbers represent the four-week period ending October 4, compared with the same time frame from last year.

Ban on livestock antibiotics proposed in US

In a hearing at the U.S. House Rules Committee a measure to stop antibiotic use in livestock was proposed by Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of food and drugs, according to a news report.
The proposal is aimed at banning the use of seven classes of antibiotics and limiting the use of others to therapeutic and some preventative use with animals.
Supported by the American Medical Association, the legislation is opposed by the National Pork Producers Council. The Union of Concerned Scientists said that about 70% of antibiotics used in the U.S. are given to healthy chickens, pigs and cattle to encourage their growth or to prevent illnesses.