The producer leaders of the American Soybean Association (ASA) have expressed their support for continuation of the National Pork Checkoff Program because the ASA believes the Pork Checkoff was an effective tool for enhancing demand for U.S. pork products, which is beneficial for pork producers and soybean producers.

At its regularly scheduled Board of Directors meeting July 15-17 2000, ASA’s Public Affairs Committee put forth a motion to the full Board recommending, “that ASA, if requested by NPPC (National Pork Producer Council), issue a statement of support for the National Pork checkoff and encourage producers to vote in favor of continuation.” The motion carried with full support from the ASA Board.

Following the ASA Board of Directors meeting, ASA received a request from NPPC asking for ASA’s public comments on the Pork Checkoff Program. NPPC also encouraged ASA to consider providing financial support to help communicate to producers the benefits of the pork checkoff program. Subsequent to receipt of NPPC’s request, ASA leaders approved a program that included grower communications in the form of articles and radio reports expressing ASA’s support, and a $5,000 contribution, which was mailed to NPPC on August 16. No soybean producer checkoff dollars were included in ASA’s contribution.

Almost two pounds of soybeans are utilized for every pound of pork consumed in the U.S. The checkoff-funded "Pork. The Other White Meat®" helped increase the per-capita consumption of pork by 5 pounds in the past five years. A record 54.2 pounds of pork are consumed annually per person in the U.S. The average hog diet contains about 22 percent soybean meal, which translates to 424 million bushels of soybeans used in hog feed last year. Pork producers have provided a market for 27 percent of all the soybean meal crushed in the United States.