Pork producers, industry leaders and bankers have put on hold their efforts to bring 300 jobs back into south Georgia.
The group is working to reopen a pork processing plant in Moultrie. But industry competition seems to be working against them.
"All of our plans to start the plant up and provide a local processor for Georgia producers are on hold," said David Bishop, an animal scientist with the University of Georgia Extension Service.
The only large processor left in Georgia closed down in early June. Many figured that would be the end of the Georgia pork industry.
Directly and indirectly, Georgia hog farmers support about 3,400 full-time jobs across the state. Extension economists figure the pork industry creates a $500 million to $1 billion impact on the state's economy.
There's too much at stake to give up easily.
"Right now, the best approach for this agreement is a cooperative effort between the Georgia Pork Producers Association and banks in the area," Bishop said. "The farmers decided they wanted to keep pork in Georgia and make it profitable, too."
Under an agreement with bankers, Georgia pork farmers will partially own the only volume slaughterhouse in Georgia. Bishop said it's also only one of three in the nation owned in part by farmers.
Bishop said the new partners are working to open a slaughter facility and later add a processing wing. They hoped to buy an equipped building in Moultrie. But a large Virginia pork processor has obtained an option to buy it.
"We're back to square zero on our building," Bishop said. "But that gives us time to get more producer and agribusiness commitment to raise the high-quality hogs it will take to keep us viable in an ever-changing industry."
Recent years have taught Georgia pork producers some tough lessons. Some have learned them well. Bishop said others still have a lot to learn.
"Part of staying in business is responding to your customers," he said. "They told us they wanted leaner pork. And we're working to give it to them. But it may take up to two years for farmers to change their breeding programs to raise leaner hogs."
A cooperative effort between the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the GPPA helps Georgia farmers produce pork with less than half the fat of just 15 years ago. They do it with selective breeding and careful nutrition and management.
"Lower-fat meat might end up costing shoppers one or two cents more per pound," Bishop said. "But think of it as quality insurance. It helps make sure you can get high-quality meat every time you want it."
Farmers can produce the pork people want. But if they don't make money at it, they can't keep doing it.
The new producer group is negotiating with large farms to provide the quality Georgia-grown hogs they'll need for their processing lines. Until a Georgia slaughterhouse reopens, though, the state's farmers don't have a reliable market for their hogs.
"Part of the problem when the Moultrie packer closed was that it drove down the price farmers got for their hogs," Bishop said. "They couldn't be certain they could even sell their hogs without a nearby packing plant."
When farmers have to ship their hogs to out-of-state slaughterhouses, they get lower prices for them. They lose money, too, as their hogs lose weight during the truck ride to distant packers.
After the hogs are shipped out-of-state for processing, the pork is shipped back in to Georgia wholesale or retail markets.
"The security of having a pork slaughterhouse and packing facility back in south Georgia is especially important to hog farmers," Bishop said. "But it's also nice to know it's providing security in the form of jobs to a lot of people in south Georgia and across the state."
