Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture must make funds available immediately to buy pork to keep hog farmers in business, the head of the second-biggest U.S. producer told a House of Representatives subcommittee.

Government pork purchases worth $100 million have won the backing of a bipartisan group of 87 lawmakers to support prices for farmers, who have lost money since 2007. Hog futures have dropped about 25 percent in Chicago since April 23, when swine flu began making headlines, depressing consumer demand and curbing exports to major markets including China and Russia.

Lawmakers need “to encourage and work with the Secretary of Agriculture to immediately make available” funds for government pork purchases, said Rod Brenneman, the chief executive officer of Seaboard Foods LLC, a unit of Merriam, Kansas-based Seaboard Corp. He testified before a House Agriculture Committee panel that oversees the livestock industry.

Hog futures for December settlement rose 0.05 cent, or 0.1 percent, to 53.725 cents a pound on the Chicago Board of Trade. The price has climbed 8.3 percent this month as the dollar fell and concerns eased about the safety of U.S. pork. Yesterday, Russia ended its last ban on U.S. pork and the dollar touched a 14-month low against the euro.

Smithfield Foods Inc., the biggest U.S. pork producer, posted its first annual loss since 1975 in June and reported a $162.1 million deficit for its hog-production unit in the three months through Aug. 2. Chief Executive Officer C. Larry Pope cited lower prices and lost export sales stemming from the flu.

Legislative Support

Lawmakers led by Senators Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, and Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, asked Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to increase U.S. spending on pork in letters earlier this month.

The group of 24 senators and 63 representatives asked Vilsack to buy more pork in the year that began Oct. 1 through government food programs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture bought $165 million of the meat a year earlier, including $30 million announced on Sept. 3, according to Justin DeJong, a USDA spokesman.

The USDA may have less to spend on pork this year because of fiscal restraints, Vilsack said in an interview last week. He said the department is reviewing its plans for this year with an eye toward maximizing available funds for pork producers.

“We have to be sure we husband our resources and use them wisely,” he said last week.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Bjerga in Washington at abjerga@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 22, 2009 16:46 EDT