The national Pork Checkoff rate will not be changed this year.

A resolution submitted by the Minnesota Pork Board to increase the rate $.025 for each $100 value of pork sold to $.425 per $100 of value was referred to the National Pork Board's Board of Directors for further consideration during last week's National Pork Forum in St. Louis.

Pork Act delegates want the Pork Board to form a working group representing state associations to further study the issue. Delegates feel that a rate increase should be discussed by individual states at their annual meetings over the next year before being brought to the 2009 Pork Act delegates.

The National Pork Board estimated that the Checkoff rate increase would generate an additional $3.2 million in revenue if it were approved. The revenue from the rate hike would help offset inflation and increases in the cost of doing business. One idea on use of the funds is to help pay for the purchase of the "The Other White Meat" trademark, which Pork Board bought from the National Pork Producers Council a year ago.

An online survey was conducted by the Iowa Pork Producers Association prior to Pork Forum to find out how Iowa hog farmers felt about the proposed increase in the Checkoff rate. Of the 176 people responding to the survey, 101 people (57.4%) said they weren't agreeable to an increase in the rate at the present time. A total of 75 people (42.6%) said they were agreeable to an increase and nearly 29 percent of those said they could support the proposed $.025 rate increase.