New pork cooperative planned

Association says it will go ahead with a plan to create a producer-owned pork cooperative. Pork producer Roger Coon of Lohrville is the interim president of the new venture. Coon says they’ll target small producers and the first step is to get them signed up for memberships.Coon says once they have producers signed up, they can look to sign contracts to supply the hogs for some specialty markets. A survey showed 70-percent of the producers were interested.Coon says their study shows there are niche markets available for pork producers. He says the co-op should help return more money to producers.Coon believes the co-op will make a big difference.The Pork Producers Association will hold seminars for pork producers at several locations next week to explain the cooperative. Coon says they expect to begin signing up producers at the Iowa Pork Congress January 19th.