News
Pork producers appreciate Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program funding
A funding change is allowing USDA to start making full payments to hog producers under a pandemic relief program.
Keri Retalick with the Wisconsin Pork Producers Association tells Brownfield this is very good news for producers. “They took a pretty big hit during that time period of April through September of 2020 during the pandemic, when the market prices went down and/or we had producers that were almost to the brink of having to euthanize animals.”
Retallick says the past few years have been a difficult time for pork producers. “There was a market issue before the pandemic hit, and then the market went low again, and now the market has come back but now, our expenses are a lot higher so our return on our investments are at a different scale again, but these payments will certainly help.”
The program will pay $54 dollars per head of eligible hogs up to 10,000 hogs, and USDA expects to issue nearly 63 million dollars in payments to hog producers.
Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux says USDA was able to increase funding for the Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program, allowing the agency to make the full payout to producers.
The payments are being made to producers who sold hogs through a spot market sale between April 16th of 2020 and September 1st, 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic disrupted markets. USDA says this program is part of the Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative and addresses gaps in previous assistance for hog producers.
Add Comment