WASHINGTON, D.C. — National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) President Duane Stateler, a pork producer from McComb, Ohio, released the following statement on the recently released reconciliation package from the House Agriculture Committee.
“America’s pork producers recognize and greatly appreciate the tireless efforts by congressional champions of farming and agriculture, especially Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson, in securing as many pork industry priorities as possible in the House’s proposed reconciliation package.”
“However, it is just as critical – if not more – that the committee keeps its promise to take action on a solution to the many problems triggered by California Proposition 12. We expect that members of both parties will continue to find the path to deliver the certainty and stability farmers need. Whether in the Farm Bill, or in other legislative provisions, we stand ready and willing to help the Congress deliver this needed, bipartisan solution.”
NPPC urges members of Congress to advance the important and needed provisions included in the reconciliation package that will ensure pork producers can continue to provide a safe, reliable, and affordable supply of products from our farms to so many people. Those provisions include:
- Preservation of necessary resources to protect the nation’s food supply through foreign animal disease (FAD) prevention, including:
- National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank
- National Animal Health Laboratory Network
- National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program
- National Veterinary Stockpile
- Increase in market access programs for U.S. pork.
- The Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development Program (FMD) build export markets for U.S. agricultural products through generic marketing and promotion and the reduction of foreign import constraints. For every $1 spent on MAP and FMD programs, U.S. agriculture saw $24.50 in export gains and contributed to the creation of 225,800 full-and part-time jobs across the U.S. economy.
- Resources for the feral swine eradication to protect the health of our herds.
- Established in the 2018 Farm Bill, the hugely successful Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program helps address the threat feral swine pose to agriculture, ecosystems, and human and animal health, especially through FADs like African swine fever.