Pork Producers Like Senate's Objectives

September 28, 2001

National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) President Barb Determan believes the policy issues reflected in the objectives released by the Senate Agriculture Committee's top Democrat and Republican must be addressed "to ensure the continued viability and profitability of U.S. agriculture in the 21st century."

Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN) "have crafted a set of comprehensive objectives that covers a broad range of policy issues that " said Determan, a pork producer and grain farmer from Early, IA. "Their principles reflect the enormous diversity and potential for growth of the food and agricultural sector, which has changed dramatically since the last farm bill was written."

Determan said it was important to raise the profile of incentive based conservation programs on working lands, which holds the promise of "producing tremendous environmental gains for our country. All livestock and poultry producers will face costly state and federal environmental regulations designed to protect water and air quality," Determan said. "The Harkin-Lugar principles are dedicated to helping livestock producers acquire the cost-share and technical assistance necessary for achieving the environmental results we all desire while remaining economically viable."

She said the objectives reflect many of the same issues that pork producers have called for in a new farm bill, including additional resources for foreign market development and promotion programs to boost U.S. pork exports; incentives to help livestock producers fully develop the value of their nutrients while protecting the environment; helping producers reposition their operations to capture a larger share of the consumer food dollar; doubling agriculture research funding over the next five years to reverse 15 years of stagnation; increasing federal expenditures for USDA's rural development grant and loan programs; and measures to strengthen agriculture's infrastructure to ensure the safety of America's food supply and the protection of American livestock.

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