The pork industry will see some changes in the checkoff program to kick off 2023. Earlier this year delegates to the 2022 National Pork Forum voted to change the national pork checkoff rate. The recommendation came from the Pork Industry Vision Task Force, which designed a new strategic plan to direct the current structure and resource needs of the pork industry and ensure its long-term success.
As part of the task force producers told industry leadership, they want the National Pork Board to be more efficient and strategic with their dollars. As part of that, the new pork checkoff rate will kick in on January 1 of 2023 and will lower the assessment by 12.5%. Glenn Muller, Executive Director of the South Dakota Pork Producers Council says, “The mandatory checkoff which we use for research, promotion and education will go from 40-cents per hundred dollars to value down to 35. The SIP contribution will go from 10-cents per 100 dollars of value up to 15-cents.” 14 sec
Muller says the total contribution from producers will still be 50-cents, but shifting money into the Strategic Investment Program will help them be better positioned to deal with the growing legal headwinds and battles in Washington D.C. He says: “Well I think the major reason for the change is the increased need to address policy issues. We have a lot of policy issues that are coming forward that are difficult to address and take a lot of finances.”
The shift in dollars will not affect the critical research, promotion and education work of the pork board but instead allow the National Pork Producers Council to be more responsive to industry needs and challenges and present a more unified and consistent voice across the industry.
