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State pork producers request emergency federal aid
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Four members of Minnesota's congressional delegation are seeking emergency federal help for the state's pork industry.
Reps. Tim Walz, Collin Peterson, Jim Oberstar and John Kline joined 60 other members of Congress from pork-producing districts in sending a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, asking for the aid.
In the letter, the members of Congress asked Villsack to spend $100 million to purchase pork for federal food programs. They also are asking him to push to open export markets for pork, particularly in China.
Since September 2007, U.S. pork producers have lost more than $4 billion in equity due to high input costs and a worldwide recession, they wrote.
The crisis worsened this spring and summer as a result of the H1N1 flu outbreak that was frequently referred to as swine flu, giving Americans the false impression that eating pork increased their risk of catching the disease.
Losses of pork sales directly traceable to the flu scare have exceeded $990 million, the representatives wrote.
BOB VON STERNBERG
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