Pork Producers Push Priorities with Members of Congress

About 100 pork producers from around the country participated in NPPC’s spring Legislative Action Conference in Washington, DC. They lobbied lawmakers on several issues important to the U.S. pork industry and received updates on other matters of concern. 
 
NPPC staff also updated producers on the economic state of the pork industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) pilot program allowing faster processing line speeds at packing plants, the use of MRNA vaccine technology in livestock production, and efforts to enhance the industry’s live swine traceability system.
 
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) — who serves on the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Nutrition — spoke to producers about Senate prospects for the next farm bill. Sandra Eskin, USDA’s deputy under secretary in the Office of Food Safety, discussed the agency’s line speeds pilot program.
 
Prior to the fly-in, NPPC President Lori Stevermer, President-elect Duane Stateler, Vice President Rob Brenneman, Past President Scott Hays, and CEO Bryan Humphreys hosted a media briefing that covered the state of the industry and a range of topics, including the farm bill, California Proposition 12, international trade, and labor. 
 
During visits with their lawmakers, producers asked members of Congress to:

•    Include in the next Farm Bill a legislative fix to California Proposition 12, which bans the sale in the state of pork from hogs born to sows raised anywhere in housing that does not meet California’s arbitrary standards. Of note, Stevermer this week penned an op-ed on new USDA research data, showing increased prices — attributed to Prop. 12 — for bacon, ribs, and loins (the three most purchased products on a volume basis).

•    Renew and expand key Farm Bill programs that benefit U.S. agriculture, including ones that address foreign animal diseases: 
o    National Animal Health Laboratory Network.
o    National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program.
o    National Veterinary Stockpile.
o    National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank.

•    Reform the process for securing TN visas, which are widely used to staff hog farm jobs, and expand H-2A visas to year-round agricultural workers to address a farm labor shortage.

•    Add language in any appropriations bill to defund the promulgation, implementation, and enforcement of a series of pending new Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) rulemakings that could encourage frivolous litigation and change the requirement to show harm to competition.

•    Support the “Beagle Brigade Act” to provide congressional authority to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Detector Dog Training Center, which trains canines used at U.S. ports of entry to detect agricultural contraband.

•    Sign a congressional letter to the U.S. Trade Representative, urging them to engage counterparts and utilize all tools available to ensure South Africa provides fair market access for U.S. pork, as outlined in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). South Africa is failing to live up to the market access commitments it negotiated in 2016 when it was being considered for inclusion in AGOA, which allows eligible sub-Saharan African countries to export goods to the United States duty-free.