|
|
|
|
JANUARY 2011
NPPC Backs Dietary Guidelines' Goal Of More Nutrient-Rich Foods
Washington, D.C., January 31, 2011 - The National Pork Producers Council expressed support for federal dietary guidelines released today whose goals are to reduce obesity, encourage the consumption of nutrient-rich foods and increase physical activity. Many cuts of pork, the organization pointed out, are lean, nutrient-dense sources of protein. NPPC recognizes for food policy and nutrition guidance the importance of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, which were issued by the U.S. departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS).
"NPPC agrees with the guidelines' call for eating nutrient-dense foods, and many cuts of lean pork, including tenderloin and loin chops, contain quality nutrients," said NPPC President Sam Carney, a pork producer from Adair, Iowa.
Lean meat offers nutrients that often are lacking in Americans, including heme iron, potassium and vitamin B-12, a micronutrient not found in plant-based foods. Based on current consumption data from the HHS National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Americans on an average 2,000 calorie-a-day diet consume 5.3 ounces of meat or meat equivalents. The USDA "Food Pyramid" suggests two to three servings of 2- to 3-ounce portions of meat, poultry or fish, meaning from 4 to 9 ounces a day.
"The solution to the obesity problem is not a shift from animal-based foods to plant-based ones but rather a shift from nutrient-poor foods to nutrient-rich foods, emphasizing the consumption of lean meats, including pork, along with vegetables, nuts and beans," Carney said.
Former Ag Secretaries Urge Approval of Trade Deal
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 8, 2011 - The Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), which is strongly supported by an ad hoc coalition of U.S. companies and agricultural and food organizations, today received a bipartisan endorsement from eight former secretaries of Agriculture.
In a letter to members of Congress, Bob Bergland, John Block, Mike Espy, Dan Glickman, Mike Johanns, John Knebel, Ed Schafer and Clayton Yeutter urged lawmakers to vote to approve the trade pact's enabling legislation, saying, "it is imperative that the KORUS FTA be implemented as soon as possible.
"The KORUS FTA will offer enormous new opportunities for our products in a market that is large and growing," added the secretaries, who pointed out that the deal will boost U.S. agricultural goods entering South Korea duty-free to $3 billion from about $14 million now.
"The KORUS FTA is a tremendous deal for the U.S. pork industry and many other industries, and we're very grateful that eight former Agriculture secretaries support the agreement," said Sam Carney, a pork producer from Adair, Iowa, and president of the National Pork Producers Council, which is one of the 61 coalition members. "This deal will increase our pork exports as well as the exports of many other U.S. goods, bringing America great economic benefits and thousand of badly needed jobs."
Those former cabinet members recognize the value and importance of this FTA." The Korean market is now the fifth largest for U.S. agricultural exports, valued at $3.9 billion in 2009. According to an economic analysis conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the KORUS FTA would expand those exports in a wide range of commodities, resulting in $1.8 billion in additional sales - a 46 percent increase - and 14,000 jobs.
The former Agriculture secretaries said American farmers can compete with anyone in the world if given a "level playing field." But they won't have one in South Korea without the KORUS FTA, they wrote, pointing out that many other countries have completed or are negotiating trade deals of their own with the Asian nation.
According to USDA, the United States currently accounts for 30 percent of Korea's agricultural imports, but that is down from almost 45 percent in the mid-1990s. "We have already seen our market share in Korea decline [because of other countries' FTAs]," the secretaries said. "That trend can be reversed and, indeed, can only be reversed, through the KORUS FTA."
To read the former Agriculture secretaries' letter, visit www.nppc.org
Coalition Urges Congress To Act On Korea FTA
Washington, D.C., January 24, 2011 - An ad hoc coalition of agricultural and food organizations and companies in a letter sent today to members of Congress applauded the recent resolution on issues in a free trade agreement between the United States and the Republic of Korea and urged lawmakers to approve the trade deal as soon as the Obama administration sends it up to Congress.
In December 2010, an outstanding issue with automobiles was resolved, allowing for U.S. congressional approval of the U.S.-South Korea FTA (KORUS). The agreement was signed June 30, 2007 - now more than three years ago.
The coalition letter, signed by 61 groups, emphasized that other countries are moving forward with FTAs with South Korea to the detriment of the United States. South Korea and the European Union, for example, have approved an FTA that will enter into force on July 1, 2011.
"Risks for U.S. agriculture - and they are extremely serious - arise if the KORUS FTA is not implemented," said the coalition in its letter. "If this agreement is rejected, we stand to relinquish our export sales to countries that have implemented their own FTAs with Korea."
Once the KORUS FTA is implemented, more than 60 percent of existing import barriers will be removed immediately - this amounts to nearly $3 billion in U.S. food and agricultural products.
According to an analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the KORUS FTA would result in $1.8 billion in additional sales to Korea, a 46 percent increase over existing sales. The analysis appears very conservative, according to Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes and the American Meat Institute, who forecast increased U.S. beef, pork and poultry exports alone to be more than $2.1 billion. The coalition pointed out that the new exports would create thousands of new jobs on the farm and in rural communities and throughout the economy.
Should the U.S. fail to implement the KORUS FTA, however, the U.S. pork industry would be completely out of the Korean market in 10 years, according to Hayes. A wide range of U.S. agricultural exports face a similar fate.
"We can either lose jobs as our market share declines in Korea," the coalition said, "or we can create new jobs by expanding exports to that market."
Pork Producers Disappointed With EPA Decision On E15
Washington, D.C., January 21, 2011 - The National Pork Producers Council today expressed strong disappointment with the Obama administration's decision to allow a broader range of vehicles to use gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today said it would permit the use of the higher blend rate - up from the current 10 percent - for model year 2001 and newer automobiles. The decision expands the agency's previous decision to allow so-called E15 in model year 2006 or newer cars and light trucks.
"It's very disappointing that the administration made this decision given the rising price of corn and the lower estimate for this year's corn harvest that recently was announced," said Randy Spronk, a hog and crop farmer from Edgerton, Minn., who serves on NPPC's board of directors and is chairman of the organization's Environment Committee.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week revised down by 5 percent the U.S. corn harvest for 2010 and reported that corn stockpiles were the lowest on record. The national corn "carryover" now is expected to be less than three weeks' worth.
NPPC strongly opposes raising the blend rate, which it says would put further upward pressure on corn supplies, increasing not only pork producers' cost of production but their exposure to regional corn shortages as demand - including from exports and the federal ethanol mandate - reduces supplies. Smaller supplies also would elevate the potential catastrophic risk to producers of any seasonal weather event.
The organization Nov. 9 joined with other livestock producer groups in filing a lawsuit in federal court against EPA over its decision to raise the blend rate to 15 percent, arguing that the agency exceeded its authority in granting a partial waiver of the Clean Air Act. Under the clean air law, EPA may only grant a waiver for a new fuel additive if it will not cause or contribute to a failure of any emission control device or system. EPA has admitted that E15 can cause harm to the systems in some older vehicles.
"EPA's decision means more corn will be used for ethanol production and that means the price on a shrinking supply will rise," Spronk said. "We don't want a repeat of a couple of years ago when, due mostly to high feed-grain prices, pork producers lost an average of almost $24 a hog over a 28-month period, and the industry lost nearly $6 billion. We saw a lot of family hog farms go out of business during that time.
NPPC Pleased with Progress on Mexico Trucking Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 6, 2011 - The National Pork Producers Council welcomed news today from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on progress in the U.S. - Mexico dispute on long haul trucking. U.S. pork exports to Mexico have dropped by 11 percent since Mexico announced in August 2010 that it would hit U.S. pork exports with a retaliatory import duty in response to failure of the United States to abide by its commitments made to Mexico in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
At issue is the U.S. refusal to allow Mexican trucks free access into the United States, as called for under the NAFTA, as well as a 2001 NAFTA dispute settlement ruling. NPPC is hopeful that the "concept paper" released by DOT on a phase in of Mexican trucking into the United States will open the door to quick progress and resolution of this dispute.
"Mexico is our largest volume export market and the retaliation Mexico has put in place on pork has hurt U.S. pork producers," said NPPC President Sam Carney, a pork producer from Adair, Iowa. "We applaud any effort by the U.S. Administration that will lead to progress in resolving this issue. Every month that the trucking issue goes unresolved, we continue to lose market share in Mexico - one of our most important export markets." The United States shipped $762 million in pork products to Mexico in 2009.
Since 1993, the year before the NAFTA was implemented, U.S. pork exports to Mexico have increased by 580 percent.
INFORMATION
Event CalendarDid you forget your
password and username?
Contact the MPPA office
at (507) 345-8814 or
