During next week’s annual Pork Industry Conference at the Wisconsin Dells - the National Pork Board will begin its work to develop its 2012 plan and budget. The planning process begins next Tuesday with an assessment of market conditions, projection of available Checkoff revenue and establishment of a fiscal year spending target. Economist Steve Meyer - who consults for the board - says barring the unexpected - next year should look much like the current year. Without much change expected in supply - and given strong demand for pork and strong export demand - he says prices should remain strong.
This year - the board projects about 72-million dollars in revenue from the Pork Checkoff. It’s expected that by the end of this year approximately 108-million hogs will have gone to market in the United States. Pork producers contribute 0.4-percent of the sales prices each time they sell a hog. Pork importers contribute a similar amount based on sales. The board distributes roughly 20-percent of the Checkoff revenue to state pork organizations for their use to promote pork and conduct research and devotes the remainder to national programs in promotion, research and consumer information.
Pork Board President Everett Forkner - a pork producer from Richards, Missouri - says the Pork Board is committed this year to funding only those projects that are consistent with the strategic plan approved two years ago. He says they’re also committed to addressing management of the pork industry's most pressing issues.
The staff will present a proposed balanced budget to a task force of 75 producers from across the country in September. |