While President Trump talks tough about trade agreements that don’t well serve U.S. interests, the U.S. pork industry is quietly setting export records this year. And it’s basking in a profit windfall as a result.
Hog market consultant Steve Meyer is telling pork producers at the World Pork Expo this week in Des Moines, Iowa, that pig prices are playing out better than many people expected when the year started. “Mostly, it’s because exports have outperformed expectations,” he says. “Pork exports were predicted to be up about 7% from last year, but so far they are up 14%”.
Later this year, there’s more beef and poultry coming. With all of the meat industries in expansion mode, Meyer thinks it is possible that in either 2018 or 2019, the U.S. could match or exceed the all-time record for per capita meat consumption. That was set in 2006 at 220 pounds. “I wasn’t sure we’d ever reach that level again,” he says.
Source: agriculture.com.
