FAIRMONT - Antibiotics, climate change, and exports were the topics of discussion Saturday night at the Minnesota Pork Producers annual banquet in Fairmont.
Executive Director David Preisler spoke about legislative issues that concern the Pork Board, one week ahead of a meeting in Washington, D.C., to address the issues on a national level.
Antibiotic use became a hot issue in early February after a major news network aired a program critical of the use of antibiotics in livestock. The report attempted to link antibiotic use in animals to antibiotic resistance in humans. Federal Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg responded by calling the issue a public health risk, and stating the FDA will be monitoring the issue.
A bill called the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009 was introduced by Congresswoman Louis Slaughter of New York that would limit the use of antibiotics in livestock and require a second approval process for certain drugs.
Without antibiotics, pork producers fear more animals would get sick, lowering production and creating a requirement for higher antibiotic levels to deal with widespread illness.
Lynn Becker, co-owner of LB Pork in Northrop, spoke with the Sentinel after the news report aired.
"This would have a severe impact on our operation," he said, "because we have certainly found that traditional use of antibiotics to prevent disease and help keep our animals healthy is much more cost effective than coming in with higher doses of the same antibiotics."
Scientific reports have not proven a link between animal antibiotic use and human resistance, and the medicines used by producers has been approved for such use by the FDA.
Preisler also addressed the issue of climate change, which at first glance seems to have little to do with the work of raising hogs. Climate change legislation, however, is connected by way of cost increases.
Producers, like everyone else, need energy to run their business. If climate change legislation raises the cost of energy, producers will be stuck with yet another higher priced input. In 2008, livestock producers were hit with a double whammy with the increased cost of corn and soybeans for feed, higher energy costs, and lowered demand due to the closure of export markets.
"Minnesota is a state that does rely on coal for all the electricity," Preisler said. "If that changes we need to figure out how it will affect us."
The National Pork Producers' Council was one of nearly 180 agricultural organizations to oppose the Environmental Pollution Agency's decision to regulate greenhouse gases through the Clean Air Act.
The groups drafted a letter to congressmen opposing the decision, stating: "The compliance costs for the CAA programs would be overwhelming as millions of entities, including farms and ranches, would be subjects to burdensome CAA regulations."
Export markets, which took a hit after the H1N1 scare last year, are on the rebound, Preisler told banquet attendees.
"Some countries had a knee-jerk reaction," he said, but all countries that halted imports of U.S. pork have reopened their boarders except China and Russia, although agreements have been made with both countries and trade relations should resume soon.