USDA acted too slowly: Hayes

Dermot Hayes, professor, was quoted in a May 11 Feedstuffs story, "Congress, NPPC seek ways to support producers euthanizing hogs."

“The last time we had plant capacity issues was in 1998,” Iowa State University economist Dr. Dermot Hayes said. “The problems then were very similar. The [U.S. Department of Agriculture] acted too slowly and with too little money, and we lost an entire generation of hog producers, including two of the largest. Without federal assistance, including compensation for euthanized hogs, we will see further consolidation in the industry.”