H1N1 On The Minds Of Hog Farmers At Allentown Fair
The H1N1 virus is a huge talking point this week as kids head back to school. Parents are trying to protect their kids from getting sick, while an industry severely affected by H1N1 attempts to get back on its feet. WFMZ's Jackie Shutack reports from the Allentown Fair.The connection between the fair and H1N1 - remember that this virus was originally called "Swine Flu," and out here at the fair, hog farmers are working hard to teach everyone that pigs are not the enemy here.
>> REPORTER: Sleeping in the early September heat, these pigs, who just survived an auction, are also trying to recover from a public relations nightmare that pinned them as the enemy...as the world first learned of the H1N1 virus.
>> BRYAN COOPER/HOG PRODUCER: 14 24 00 "It definitely caused some serious problems for us."
>> REPORTER: Bryan Cooper is a 3rd generation hog farmer from Lenhartsville, Berks County. He says back in April, when H1N1 first came to light, the price for pork products immediately dropped 15 cents.
>> BRYAN COOPER/HOG PRODUCER: 14 24 30 "We were tight to begin with, and we're right now probably losing $40-$50 per pig, so you can't do that for too long being a small family farm."
>> REPORTER: Cooper is now working hard to educate consumers that pork chops and bacon won't give you the flu.
>> BRYAN COOPER/HOG PRODUCER: 24:55 "You can't get it from the meat."
>> REPORTER: Hog farmers are already reeling from the recession. Cooper says roughly 20 months ago, he started to feel the effects, especially when he had to pay more for feed prices.
>> BRYAN COOPER/HOG PRODUCER: 25 55 "It's about $6500 a week in corn, and about $7000 a week in soybean meal, and soybean meal is twice what it used to be, so that all adds up."
>> REPORTER: Cooper hopes things can only go up from here.
>> BRYAN COOPER/HOG PRODUCER: 26 32 "That's all we can do is hope and pray for that to happen."
>> Cooper says he has seen many colleagues forced to sell off part of the farm...he hopes this is rock bottom, and things will bounce back from here. Jackie Shutack, 69 News.
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