MANKATO — In 2008, Minnesota pork farmers were shelling out $18 more in feed and other production expenses than they were earning for each pig brought to market.

The gloomy news for producers is that the red ink from last year looks rosy compared to the numbers for 2009. Right now, hog farmers are losing $30 to $35 dollars for every market-weight pig they sell, said Dave Preisler, executive director of the Minnesota Pork Producers Association.

An 80 percent drop in exports — and exports make up 20 percent of the pork sold by American farmers — is a major part of the problem. Plus, the excess supply of pork, which has caused prices to plunge, is only slowly being eliminated by reductions in production.

“September was probably our worst month, and we haven’t had a profitable month in 21⁄2 years,” Preisler said.

Tough times in the pork industry are felt in other parts of the rural economy. Equipment dealers, vet clinics, feed providers and more are directly impacted.

Preisler figures American hog producers will need to reduce the number of pigs by 7 million to 8 million to get supply and demand equalized and get prices to the point they cover production costs. Every million head of pigs creates more than 300 farm jobs and about three times that many in related industries such as feed, processing and equipment repair.

The economic impact, of course, isn’t evenly spread across the nation. Minnesota joins Iowa, North Carolina and Illinois in the list of top pork-producing states, and three area counties — Martin, Blue Earth and Nicollet — are in the top five for hogs in Minnesota.

All of those counties are in the heart of the 1st Congressional District, which provides about 85 percent of Minnesota’s pork production. So it’s probably no surprise that Rep. Tim Walz’s name is at the head of a long list of members of Congress asking the Department of Agriculture for help.

The letter, mailed earlier this month, suggests Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack authorize $100 million in pork purchases to supply school lunches, nutrition programs for the elderly and food shelves. It also spells out the problems in the industry, saying that $4.6 billion in equity has been lost since September 2007 with steep declines in revenue continuing through the end of the year.

“This is and will continue to be a devastating blow to the U.S. pork industry unless emergency assistance becomes available soon,” states the letter, also signed by Minnesota Reps. Collin Peterson, John Kline and Jim Oberstar and 59 other members of Congress.

State lawmakers — including Rep. Terry Morrow of St. Peter and Sen. Kathy Sheran of Mankato — also have urged members of Congress to pressure the Obama administration to authorize more pork purchases out of the existing Section 32 funds aimed at helping depressed farm commodities.

Morrow and Sheran requested the help after visiting a rural Courtland farm family which was losing about $40 for every pig it sells.

“Unless immediate action is taken, they will lose the farm by mid-2010, and that farm failure will mean that 23 other families will no longer be able to raise pigs, eight other families will lose jobs, feed suppliers will lose a valuable customer, the local veterinarian will suffer, and the list goes on,” Sheran said. “We cannot allow for this story to repeat itself.”

The modern hog industry probably has more trouble reacting quickly to sudden drops in demand compared to pig farmers of a generation or two ago, Preisler said. Large investments in facilities and expertise have been made by producers, and they feel responsible for employees and suppliers dependent on them.

Hog farmers decades ago also tended to have diversified operations and income streams, allowing them to more easily drop production of unprofitable commodities.

But the industry is reacting. Slight declines in hogs going to market have occurred in the last 12 months, according to one industry report. And Smithfield Foods, the nation’s largest pork producer, is cutting back production 10 percent.

While the industry tries to ramp back production, the federal purchases can help, Preisler said.

Vilsack authorized $30 million in pork buys in September. An additional $100 million in purchases in the coming weeks could reduce the surplus of pork as suppliers work to reduce supply.

The purchases also make sense because pork is an inexpensive option right now compared to other protein sources in school lunches, food shelves and other income-based nutrition programs, he said.

“It is an incredible buy for the government just from an economic standpoint,” Preisler said. “I mean, pork is cheap.”

Government pork purchases are just one step, Preisler said. Trade negotiations are needed to open up foreign markets in the future, and China needs to be pressured to reopen its market to pork imports.

China fingered the H1N1 flu in North America, also known as the swine flu, when cutting off American pork imports. Preisler said the rationale made no sense because the flu cannot be contracted by eating pork products.