The pork checkoff is paid every time a hog is sold. Some animals are sold first as feeder pigs and later as market animals. They may be charged the checkoff each time they are sold.
Producers pay less when prices are low since the checkoff is based on market values.
Opponents of the national pork checkoff say they have enough signatures on a petition to force the USDA to hold a vote on the mandatory program. Members of the Campaign for Family Farms held a press conference in Des Moines April 15 to announce they have more than 16,500 signatures on a petition to end the mandatory checkoff. They plan to present their petition to USDA officials in early May and hope that move leads to a referendum on the checkoffs future by fall. Mo. She also works with the Missouri Rural Crisis Center. Perry says it would be bad management by small, independent pork producers to let their money continue to go into a mandatory checkoff because they are not getting a good return for their money.