KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In an unprecedented move to support pork producers who are facing the lowest hog prices in four decades, Farmland Industries, POLE or STEEL a better pole building concept ■■ HH YOU NEED A BUILDING! Let’s Talk About It! See Us at Keystone Show Jan 5 & 6, Booth 161, Memorial Hall • 24 YEARS EXPERIENCE • FOUNDATION CREWS • ERECTION CREWS WE HAVE THE RIGHT BUILDING TO FIT YOUR NEEDS! [Tcan’t see you at the KEYSTONE FARM SHOW but I’d like j to know more about buildings. I I NAME j ADDRESS I CITY {z' p I ~i Please send fl Please call me | me literature for an appointmentj 1248 SOUTH MOUNTAIN RD., DILLSBURG, PA 17019 Farmland Establishes First-Ever Hog Price Floor Inc., announced today that it has established a first-ever price floor for market hogs it purchases. The Kansas City-based farmer-owned cooperative, which Varco - Pruden metal building systems INDUSTRIAL / WAREHOUSE / RETAIL / INSTITUTIONAL BUILDINGS inc. Keystone Farm Show Section 1, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 2, 1999—Page runs the sixth-largest pork pro cessing operation in the country, said effective today, it will pay a base price of no less than $l5 per hundredweight for market hogs PHONE 717-432-9738 FAX NO. 717-432-8389 that meet the weight and quality specifications of Farmland Foods. Producers eligible to receive this price, which becomes effective Tuesday, Dec. 22,1998, are those who sold hogs to the farmer owned cooperative between Sept. 1,1997 and Dec. 19,1998. "We are deeply concerned about the farmers who supply us with market hogs," said Gary Evans, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, farmland Meats Group. "Establishing a price floor is an essential step to help our farmer owners through one of the tough est economic periods in the histo ry of the pork industry. This price floor is proof positive that Farmland is "Proud to be farmer owned®." Evans said the concept of establishing a price floor was developed after the cooperative's leaders studied several ideas put forth during their annual meet ing two weeks ago m Kansas City. Farmland typically buys hogs at competitive prices, mar kets pork products under the 1 Farmland® brand, and then pays out its profits to livestock produc ers and local cooperatives in the form of patronage refunds "With some recent reports of producers receiving less than $lO per hundredweight for market hogs, we felt compelled to lake this jtep to help produceis con tain their losses until the backlog of hogs can be moved through the country's pork processing facili ties," Evans said. "Because we are the nation's only producer owned pork processor, we felt a moral obligation to attempt to provide assistance to our produc ers," Evans added. Farmland will continue to monitor the hog mar ket situation and evaluate the need for this floor on a weekly basis. The pork industry is experi encing a highly unusual glut in the number of hogs that are ready for market. Despite strong consumer demand for pork, there simply are too many hogs in the production pipeline for process ing plants to keep pace, said Harry Fehrenbacher, a pork pro ducer from Effingham, 111. "We recognize that a price floor is not the total solution," said Fehrenbacher. "Nevertheless, for hundreds of producers it could mean the difference between staying or leaving the pork business." Evans said Farmland's four packing plants and nine process ing facilities are operating at complete capacity and are expected to process more than 8 million hogs this year, about 1 " percent more pork than the pn vious fiscal year The pe< King plants are located at Crete, Neb Denison. lowa, Dubuque, lowa, and Monmouth, 111 "We need a stable supph of high-quality hogs over the l«mg haul," said E\ans 'lf this ml, - produceis >\ -athe' the oroiV'n u storm, then v> t 'k doing our |> b Evans said ua inland already h < instructed its hog buyi in to incorporate the price floor mean while, Farmland will be notifying pork producers m a special letter that will be issued this week 71
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