During the two-day event, pork producers reviewed major policy issues affecting their operations and the overall state of the industry. Participants followed these discussions with one-on-one meetings with top government officials and Congressional representatives.

"These meetings are one of the few opportunities that pork producers have to communicate industry positions to Members of Congress and key committee and agency staffs," said NPPC President Keith Berry, a pork producer from Greencastle, Ind. "It was a chance to have face-to-face discussions with the key decision makers on vital issues that impact our ability to operate."

Berry said the meetings went well and everyone was pleased with the turnout. "Producers from as far away as Hawaii were able to sit down and inform their members of Congress on such critical pork industry topics as the one-year extension of mandatory price reporting; a possible ban of fatigued hogs; voluntary country-of-origin labeling; national animal identification and international trade," he said.

"It's important that our voices are heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill and that the people creating policies understand that real people are impacted by the decisions they make. We were excited to participate in this process and look forward to working with our government leaders in the future."

Source: National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) - 28th September 2004