PORK CHECKOFF VOTE COULD SHAPE HOG INDUSTRY FUTURE

Pork producers across the country -- including those in Southeast Missouri -- will vote next week in a referendum that will decide the fate of the pork checkoff program, a mandatory fund established by the Pork Promotion and Research Act of 1985 that some producers say funds research that threatens their livelihood.

Hog farmers on both sides of the issue say the three-day referendum, to be conducted Tuesday through Thursday, is crucial and could shape their industry's future.

Farmers pay 45 cents to the National Pork Board for every $100 value of hog sales. The proceeds raised more than $42 million in 1999 and funded university research, seminars, marketing and "The Other White Meat" advertising campaigns.

About 100,000 hog farmers nationwide are eligible to vote, but only about half of them are expected to vote. About 4,000 hog producers are eligible to vote in Missouri.

Farmers in Cape Girardeau, Perry and Ste. Genevieve counties raise 15,000 to 18,800 pigs per county, but most other counties fall under the 3,500 mark.

Only producers or companies that sold at least one hog in the past year can cast ballots, which will be taken at area U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency offices in each county.

The local office is at 480 W. Jackson Trail along Highway 25 just south of Jackson, Mo. Absentee ballots are being taken, but very few have been received in Cape County.

No one can say what the price impact on pork would be without the checkoff, but without it, promotions by the National Pork Producer Council could fade from many restaurant menus, said a NPPC spokeswoman.

Results of the ballots are not expected until Nov. 29.

Opponents call the checkoff undemocratic.

"Hog farmers have been forced to pay more than $500 million into the checkoff program since it started in 1986," said Rhonda Perry, a hog and grain farmer at Armstrong in central Missouri. During that period, more than 250,000 hog farmers have gone out of business, and prices are at historic lows, she said.

Another hog producer takes a different view.

"I don't think there is any way I could stay an independent producer without the checkoff," said Karl Johnson of Mankato, Minn., a supporter of the checkoff. "Without the pork producers offering seed money to start these research projects, they will not go on. They're kidding themselves."

Farmers voluntarily paid into a similar fund created in 1972, but backers of the measure wanted a mandatory program to assure money for research and promotion. A 15-member board oversees the checkoff, which has raised $506 million since 1986.

The Campaign for Family Farmers, a national coalition of farm groups, organized the campaign to end the mandatory pork checkoff. Perry, who is a spokesperson for the group, said 5 percent of hog farmers signed a petition to get the new 2000 vote.

Opponents of the checkoff say the checkoff pays for research that benefits the giant meat processors and corporate farm operations that are driving them out of business.

"We expect a very close vote," said Perry. "We'd like to do away with the checkoff and start all over again."

Missouri, the sixth-highest swine-producing state with more than 2.5 million head, has about 4,000 producers, said Perry.

Iowa and North Carolina are the top two hog producing states, at about 14 million and 10 million respectively. Others in the top five are Minnesota, 5.4 million hogs; Illinois, 4.7 million; and Indiana, 3.8 million.

The top swine producing counties in Missouri are Sullivan, Putnam and Mercer, each with more than 1 million head.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LEADING HOG PRODUCING STATES

Iowa, 14,000,000

North Carolina, 9,700,000

Minnesota, 5,400,000

Illinois, 4,750,000

Indiana, 3,800,000

Nebraska, 3,550,000

Missouri, 3,550,000

Oklahoma, 1,640,000

Ohio, 1,620,000

Kansas, 1,430,000

Totals, 59,920,000

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture