Radio Address of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman
                                
                                           Release No.  0522.98
                                             
      Radio Address of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman
                        Pork Crisis 1998
                       December 24, 1998
                  (As prepared for delivery)

     Good morning.  We are in the midst of a major crisis where hog prices
have hit their lowest level in five decades and some producers are on the
verge of losing their farms.  A number of farmers are in deep financial
difficulty.  They can't afford to feed their hogs and the market is so glutted
they can't sell them.  

     I wanted to take a moment to reassure America's pork producers and their
families that we are moving as quickly as we can, exploring every option we
may have under the law, to help producers get through this very difficult
time.  I am using whatever power and influence I have at my disposal.  Our
Pork Crisis Task Force has been working overtime to develop solutions.

     I wanted to talk this morning about what we have been doing, some of the
steps we are continuing to work on and announce additional actions we are
taking today.  

     In the past few days, I have met with retailers, packers, processors,
banks, farm groups and others to listen to their suggestions and explore ways
we can work together to alleviate the crisis. I am particularly pleased that
some packers have established a minimum price they will pay for hogs above the
current spot price.  This will help shore up prices.  I commend them for their
action and I hope more will follow suit. 

     And for the longer term, we are taking a hard look to determine whether
prices are truly competitive and whether producers are being treated fairly.

     With respect to farm credit,  I have taken a number of steps.  We are
getting the word out to hog producers who traditionally have not taken
advantage of our guaranteed loan programs.  USDA has approximately $1 billion
available to guarantee operating loans.  The use of this guarantee is an
incentive for private bankers to finance their producers during this difficult
time.  I am encouraging hog producers and their lenders to get into our Farm
Service Agency offices and apply quickly.  This money is made available on a
first come first serve basis. 

     Today I have ordered a moratorium on the use of USDA credit to build new
pork production facilities.  Because the crux of the problem is oversupply, we
want to stop any government action that could exacerbate the situation.   I am
also looking at other credit options which we hope to nail down in the next
few days.   I believe these and other steps we are considering will help
encourage creditors to be more flexible with farmers who may be on shaky
ground now, but whose long term outlook is positive.  

     To help get more hogs through the system, we are talking with members of
Congress, governors and CEO's of major slaughterhouses to see what can be done
to increase slaughter.  I am encouraging packers to increase their capacity
and we are offering incentives for them to work weekends.  We are exploring
with Mexican officials the possibility of using excess slaughter capacity in
Mexico.  I  have spoken with Canadian Agriculture Minister Van Cleef about our
mutual concerns regarding slaughter capacity.

     We are looking at ways to increase demand for pork products including
encouraging retailers and consumers to take advantage of a good buy.  I have
spoken with other federal agencies   the Defense Department, Veterans Affairs,
the Justice Department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs    to increase the
amount of pork in their volume purchases.  

     We are also expediting Russian pork purchases under the current food aid
package.  Yesterday I announced the signing of  the food aid package with
Russia provides for 50,000 tons of pork.  We are also exploring increased use
of our export credit guarantees and are looking at ways to accelerate and
increase USDA's announced  pork purchases of $121.5 million. 

     I also want to announce that today I have directed our Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service  to accelerate the voluntary pseudo-rabies
eradication program.  They will develop an indemnification program that could
remove up to 1.7 million hogs from the market and achieve pseudo-rabies free
status for the United States.  This would provide an added bonus of opening up
new foreign market opportunities.

     These are just some of our immediate actions.  There are other options
we are working on and we will continue to make announcements of our actions as
soon as we make them.  

     You know, demand for pork is strong.  The futures market is improving
and exports are actually up.  So though folks are in a crunch now, the long
term outlook is positive and I want to encourage everyone to help producers to
hang on.

     In the spirit of the season, I'm reminded of the movie "It's A Wonderful
Life," when Jimmy Stewart called on all the folks in his town to not panic, to
come together and work through a banking crisis.  In that same spirit, I am
saying to everyone in the pork industry, from the lenders to the retailers,
from the farmers to the packers, let's all be flexible, let's all be creative,
and most of all, let's all understand that together we can work through this
crisis and put an industry temporarily derailed back on the track to continued
growth and prosperity. 

     Again, I want to emphasize that we are working and will continue working
to find ways to help pork producers get through this crisis.

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