A22-L>nctstef Farming, Saturday, May 27, 2000 Pork Cooperative (Continued from Pago A 1) tries, including swine. Right now the co-op is look ing for a CEO and is in the middle of its foundation mem bership drive, Adams said. The board includes nine directors, including six producer-members and three from the outside. The bylaws have been written to begin seeking membership in the top 25 states. Pennsylvania has already been approved. The co-op offers different types of membership, Adams noted: • Regular membership for producers who bear the risk of production. This will allow pro ducers to sell hogs and pork through the cooperative. • Asspciate membership. This can include a nonproducer, swine organization, or producer related council, such as the Pennsylvania Pork Producers Cooperative (PPPC), already a member. Memberships cost $5OO. Cost to market hogs is 10 cents per hog, with a minimum of 5,000 hogs. Costs of hog registration are $5OO for 5,000 head, $l,OOO for 10.000 head, and $2,500 for 25.000 head. Hog registration 1 L , II [I |l Pork Value Chain - 10 year average “SXo.Po7 k h^Sr ra,,Ve - ln ' ormaH<>n to “PP'"* BUY, SELL, TRADE OR RENT THROUGH THE CLASSIFIED ADS IN Lancaster Farming PHONE 717-626-1164 OR 717-394-3047 FAX 717-733-6058 does not commit a producer to participate in the co-op. The co-op may have to rely on existing processors to deliver the hogs in a certain region on a custom basis and fabricate the products according to specifica tions. Members so far represent sev eral million hogs per year. Pork America has more mem bers with hogs than they can move meat, noted Adams. But the opportunities are presenting themselves, he noted, and the cooperative needs membership money to give them negotiating power. Foundation memberships offer a “first crack,” noted Adams, at market opportunities. Slaughter has been a low margin business. But the chang ing face of the business with some companies leaving the business entirely and others res tructuring leaves room for a producer cooperative such as Pork America to start and thrive. “It’s called demand, it’s called opportunity,” Adams said. Adams, who owns a 500-sow hog business in the eastern part of North Carolina, provided some facts at the meeting: cli°me?«la fn 3b ,? Ut the n , ew sw,ne coo Pork America, at a spe- • Smithfield, at number 1, holds 20.6 percent of all hog pro cessing in the country. They own their own hogs. • Number 2 hog processor, IBP, holds 17.8 percent. Pork America can capture some inde pendent business as restructur ing and repositioning take place. ©WORLD CLASS Lubricants c £>', PETROLEUM AND SYNTHETICS • Engine Oils * ATF Fluids • Hydraulic Oils • Greases • Gear Oils Availal * le ln Bulk Or Packaged Ph # 6698 227 Wood Corner Road Of 800-495-5823 Ephrata, PA www.excelperformanceproducts.com • Number 3, Swift, at 10.1 percent and 4, Excel, at 9.9 per cent, have no plants on the East Coast. And some may not stay in the packing business because of low margins. The future for hog farmers is to be part of an integrated, coor dinated, or aligned system, it work.” Adams said the cooperative is “toying to change the way we do things. In the future, we have to be able to learn how to be in an integrated or coordinated system to survive and prosper. That’s what we’re trying to create here a coordinated system.” For more information about Pork America, contact Adams at (252) 568-1147 or e-mail at pata dams@greene.kl2.nc.us.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers