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Thursday, August 07, 2008
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News Detail
The Nebraska Farm Bureau says feed prices are a "disaster'' and the USDA needs to act.
4/30/2008 7:05:13 PM
LINCOLN -- With cattle and hog producers being squeezed by higher feed-grain prices, the Nebraska Farm Bureau is asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help increase demand, and thus prices, for beef and pork.
In a letter this week to Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, the Nebraska group also asks for loan assistance similar to that given farmers during natural disasters or drought.
The cost of feed-grain "is such a disaster for many livestock producers,'' said Rob Robertson, Farm Bureau vice president of governmental relations. "Whether it's a drought or a huge economic loss, it's a disaster.''
Robertson said pork producers are losing up to $60 per animal while cattle feeders are losing as much as $200 to $300 per animal.
He said hopes that livestock prices might improve this summer do not appear to be panning out and that it could be fall or winter before producers see better prices.
Earlier in April, the Farm Bureau joined other ag organizations in asking Schafer to use more USDA funds to purchase more pork and other meat products for nutrition programs such as school lunches. Schafer has not yet acted on that request, Robertson said.
In its letter, the Nebraska group asked Schafer to try to boost export sales by promoting meat in international marketing programs; to donate more pork and beef to foreign food aid programs; and to ask agencies such as the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to buy more meat. |
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