Wallace's Farmer, IA
10-24-07
Smithfield Grants Are Available for Iowa Hog Producers
Rod Swoboda rswoboda@farmprogress.com
Grant funds totaling $100,000 are available for 2008 for projects that will advance
and enhance swine production in Iowa. The grants are funded by Smithfield
Foods, Inc., as part of a settlement with the Iowa Attorney General's office.
Farmers and others who want to apply for the money must submit written
proposals by December 20, 2007. This is the second year of 10 years for which
there will be $100,000 in grant funds available, says Iowa Attorney General Tom
Miller. Smithfield is paying $1 million over the 10 years of the program.
Miller has released a "Request for Applications" to identify and support innovative
eligible projects. The grants must be related to increasing profits of hog farmers,
helping independent producers compete, making market information available,
protecting the environment and other goals.
Iowa producers urged to apply for funds
Application forms, instructions and requirements are at
www.state.ia.us/government/ag/latest_news/ or call the Attorney General's Farm
Division at 515-281-5351 or email FARM@ag.state.ia.us.
The Iowa Attorney General's office, working with Smithfield and four state
legislators, will evaluate the proposals and award the $100,000 for 2008 to the
projects that demonstrate financial need and promote hog production in Iowa in
an innovative manner.
How did this program get started? "The grant program is part of a landmark
settlement under which Smithfield made substantial financial commitments to
Iowa's pork industry," says Miller. "Smithfield also agreed to provide a 'bill of
rights' for swine farmers who contract their hog production with Smithfield."
What kind of projects are eligible?
In September 2005 the Iowa Attorney General and Smithfield Foods Inc., Murphy
Farms LLC and Prestage-Stoecker Farms Inc. all agreed to enter a Consent
Decree by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
When the grant program was announced in October 2006, Dennis Treacy, vice
president of environmental and corporate affairs for Smithfield, said: "Smithfield
Foods is delighted to partner with Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller to make
funds available to Iowa hog producers. We pledge to work with Iowans to ensure
that the projects we fund sustain the environment and further the hog production
industry in the state." The program encourages projects in the following areas to
submit applications:
* Environment - Projects that will address the environmental impact of swine
production, including air and water quality.
* Profitability - Projects that will address profitability of swine production. For
example, lowering production costs; addressing swine disease problems;
increasing efficiency in production; creating new pork products or creating new
markets for pork.
* Contract feeding - Projects that will address issues in contract feeding such as
competition, fairness and efficiency.
* Independent producers - Projects that will address the ability of independent
hog producers to compete, including projects relating to market access, price
transparency, niche marketing of pork, producer networking and financing.
* Market information - Projects that will address the issue of price discovery and
availability of market information in the hog industry.
Grants that were awarded for 2007
Last year the first round of grants were awarded, says Miller, and the following
projects got the money.
* The Drake University Ag Law Center was awarded $21,886 to identify, research
and analyze existing and future legal issues affecting Iowa's swine industry,
culminating in a series of papers and workshops for farmers, their attorneys and
other members of the swine industry in Iowa.
* Iowa State University was awarded $34,261 to develop an economic model
to be used by Iowa swine farmers to evaluate the economic viability of using
dried distillers grain and solubles and other ethanol industry by-products as feed
ingredients in a wide range of feed input price and supply conditions.
* Practical Farmers of Iowa was awarded $19,453 to develop and deliver
educational programming to farmers who presently produce niche pork, farmers
who produce conventional pork and farmers who recently exited pork production,
with a focus on niche pork production systems that haven't been well researched
in the past.
* The Development Council of Crawford County was awarded $24,399 to do a
feasibility study to figure out the viability of a commercial biomass facility that
uses hog manure and other waste to produce methane and high-quality fertilizer
for Crawford County farmers.
State lawmakers participating in reviewing the project proposals are Sen. Tom
Rielly (D-Oskaloosa), Sen. Hubert Houser (R-Carson), Rep. Marci Frevert (DEmmetsburg) and Rep. Steve Olson (R-DeWitt). In addition to the one million
dollar grant program, Smithfield also agreed in the 2005 settlement to pay one
million dollars to ISU for a 10-year environmental training program, and $240,000
over a four-year period to fund Smithfield-Luter Scholarships at ISU.