WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brad Finstad (MN-01), member of the House Agriculture Committee, led six Members of Congress in a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) requesting that RMA undertake a comprehensive review of current risk management tools and report to Congress on additional regulatory or legislative actions that may be taken to promote resilience and strengthen the industry’s ability to combat economic hardships due to market and production-related stresses. Congressman Finstad was joined by Reps. Randy Feenstra (IA-04), Mike Flood (NE-01), Michelle Fischbach (MN-07), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01), Don Bacon (NE-02), and Adrian Smith (NE-03) in signing the letter. 

In part, the lawmakers write, “In recent years, pork producers have been faced with various pressures, including record-high cost of production, volatile markets, and at times, severe financial losses. Additionally, diseases such as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) have created production losses due to high mortality rates and added health costs, causing significant impacts on operations across the country…”

The letter continues, “…Risk management is critical to the financial health and longevity of U.S. hog farms, which is why we strongly encourage you to identify and report to Congress on regulatory or legislative changes that would make USDA-backed risk management tools more accessible for pork producers and better support the resiliency of one of America’s most important industries.”

The full text of the letter can be found here.

“In recent years, our pork producers have faced several challenges, including increased production costs, market uncertainty, and foreign animal disease and they deserve strong, accessible risk management tools to help them protect against risks beyond their control,” said Rep. Finstad. “I’m proud to represent one of the top pork-producing districts in Congress, and I am committed to making sure the programs available for farmers to manage risk are accessible and effective for our livestock producers, which is why I’m calling on USDA to thoroughly review how these programs can best serve the farmers who depend on them.”

“Over the past two years, Minnesota’s pig farmers experienced the worst financial losses in the history of pork production. While markets have slowly trended in a better direction, the industry faces many headwinds fueling uncertainty in the market. Livestock producers having access to tools that help them manage risk when market downturns occur is critical to ensuring our family farmers can survive and succeed for generations to come. We’re very appreciative of Congressman Finstad’s leadership in calling on the USDA to further explore changes and improvements that can make risk management tools more accessible for pig farmers.” – Todd Selvik, President, Minnesota Pork Producers Association and pig farmer from Waseca, MN.