The National Pork Board will meet in Des Moines today to elect new officers and to consider mid-year adjustments to the 2012 budget.

Board members also will be asked to approve several requests from its staff for supplemental funding for the remainder of 2012. Among those requests are:

The board will begin the meeting in executive session so it can meet with the auditing firm that recently completed its annual examination of the board’s most recent yearly financial statement.

Study findings presented at the meeting will detail producer return on checkoff dollars.

Around 10:30 a.m. the board will hear a report from economist Steve Meyer on the recent completion of a Checkoff Return on Investment study required each five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This year’s survey, conducted by economists at Cornell University, concluded that, overall, pork producers receive $17.40 in value from research, promotion and other activities for each dollar they invest in the Pork Checkoff.

Meyer also is expected to update the board on a University of Minnesota study of swine production costs.

Other items on the board’s agenda include:

Board President Everett Forkner, a farmer from Richards, Mo., will complete his one-year term as president at the meeting. As past president, he will remain on the board’s executive committee for one year. Other members of the executive committee are Vice President Conley Nelson of Algona, Iowa, and Treasurer Karen Richter of Montgomery, Minn. The board will elect a new president, vice president and treasurer from among its members.

Meetings of the National Pork Board are open to the public. Those wishing to attend are asked to contact Lorraine Garner, [email protected], (515) 223-2600.