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NPPC speaks out against Farm Bill
It seems that the agriculture industry is split on the Farm Bill that has come out of the conference committee.
Pat McGonegle, vice-president of state relations and resource development for the National Pork Producers Council says the pork industry has some serious concerns about the Farm Bill in its current state. “In the final bill there was not a fix or a remedy to the M-COOL issue, in addition to that there was not a remedy to the GIPSA rule that was brought forward, and it does not include the King amendment,” he says. “For those three reasons combined, NPPC has some big concerns about it.”
He tells Brownfield the lack of a fix to Country of Origin Labeling leaves livestock producers unprotected. “There’s a hearing coming up in February with the WTO, but most likely we’ll end up with tariffs and retaliation against US pork products going into Canada and Mexico,” he says. “They’re our number two and three destination for US pork products – so it will have a negative impact on exports going in to those two countries.”
Because agriculture has waited so long for a Farm Bill, McGonegle says it almost puts them in a difficult position. “We kind of thought there was some negotiation being done and some fixes in place for M-COOL and GIPSA and then when the final bill came out it didn’t have it in it,” he says. “Really for pork producers we don’t have any other options but to be opposed to it.”
The U.S. House passed the five-year farm bill compromise in a vote of 251 to 166 earlier today.
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