For the Week Ending November 5, 2021

LIVESTOCK, POULTRY, EGG GROUPS WEIGH IN ON EPA PESTICIDE RESTRICTIONS
NPPC this week led 35 other livestock, poultry and egg organizations in asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider the analysis used for a proposal to restrict the use of pyrethrin, a pesticide employed in food animal houses to control flies. In comments submitted Wednesday to the agency, the groups pointed out that “[f]ly control in animal agriculture facilities is fundamentally important to prevent the spread of animal diseases, to reduce vector transmission of foodborne illness-causing organisms like salmonella, the comfort and welfare of the animals, and the benefits to those working in or around the facilities.” Alternative products, they wrote, are either “far less effective, require several more applications, or would inevitably drive resistance among the adult fly breeding population.” An EPA proposed interim decision would limit application methods of pyrethrin, but, the organizations pointed out, the pesticide needs to be applied as small droplets that can be suspended in the air, so spraying, fogging and misting are essential ways to apply it. (Click here to read the comments.)

EU, U.S. AGREE TO REDUCE IMPORT TARIFFS
The United States and the European Union agreed over the weekend to reduce import tariffs on a host of each other’s goods. The Biden administration will lower duties on EU steel and aluminum imports, and the EU agreed to end 25 percent retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agriculture products, including pork. NPPC supports the development and hopes it will pave the way for similar discussions with China. The EU will maintain, however, tariff rate quotas and non-tariff barriers, such as unjustified sanitary-phytosanitary measures, that severely limit U.S. pork exports to the economic bloc. The EU also is considering a carbon border tax on certain imports, with reports indicating aluminum, cement, electricity, fertilizer and iron and steel would be on an initial list.

NPPC’S ‘GIVE-A-HAM’ CHALLENGE TO HELP THOSE IN NEED KICKED OFF
NPPC Monday kicked off its fourth annual national “Give-A-Ham” challenge to benefit food banks and pantries around the country. In a press conference held at the Food Bank of Iowa in Des Moines, NPPC President Jen Sorenson presented pork to food bank President and CEO Michelle Book, who then challenged National Pork Board CEO Bill Even and Bill Legate, vice president of Nationwide Insurance in Iowa to “Give-A-Ham.” Sorenson challenged Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Pork Board President Gene Noem, Iowa Pork Producers Association President Dennis Liljedahl and Terry Wolters, NPPC’s president-elect. The campaign, which runs through the end of the year, in 2020 saw more than 15 million pounds of pork donated to help those in need. “This challenge is a holiday tradition and one that is my favorite,” said Sorenson. “It reflects how this country’s 60,000 pork producers – who work so hard to raise safe and nutritious protein – are also practicing one of our ‘We Care’ principles: giving back to our communities and being good neighbors.”

APPLICATIONS FOR PORK INDUSTRY SCHOLARSHIPS BEING ACCEPTED
NPPC is accepting applications for the 2022 Lois Britt Memorial Pork Industry Scholarship, which is sponsored by CME Group and managed and administered by NPPC. The program, introduced in 1990 by CME Group and NPPC and named in 2006 in honor of the late-NPPC board member Lois Britt, awards 10 $2,500 scholarships annually to college students who intend to pursue a career in the pork industry, with hopes they will become pork industry leaders. All entries must be sent by Jan. 3, 2022, to be accepted. (Click here for more information, including where to submit applications.)