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Starting April 4, for those tracking the U.S. pork industry, USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) has implemented weekly export sales reporting for the first time. According to U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) economist Erin Borror, weekly export sales reporting has applied for many years to beef, wheat, barley, corn, grain sorghum, oats, rye, soybeans, soybean meal and oil, flaxseed, linseed oil, sunflowerseed oil and cottonseed products....More

A coalition of food and agricultural organizations and companies today urged the United States and other countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations to quickly welcome Japan into the trade talks. Japan recently announced its intention to join the TPP negotiations, which currently include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam....More

The pork movement is hot and happening, meaning pork has become the “it” protein according to Chef Michael Formichella in today’s “Chef’s Table” blog on the Meatingplace.com Web site. He says a combination of marketing prowess, economic factors and, well, bacon, have helped build pork demand....More

At the annual meeting of the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) in Des Moines in late January, delegates passed two resolutions dealing with hog transportation issues....More

During this week’s The Ag Minute, guest host Rep....More

Smithfield Foods, Inc. said today that the company is well positioned to meet rising demand for ractopamine-free pork, following recent announcements that China and Russia will require third-party certification that pork exports are ractopamine-free. Smithfield leads the industry in the production of ractopamine-free pork....More

  The possibility that U.S. meat, poultry and egg products inspectors may be furloughed March 1 if sequestration – automatic, across-the-board cuts to the federal budget – were to go into effect, would result in considerable losses to livestock and poultry farmers, declared the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and 37 other trade associations. NPPC said it strongly believes furloughing USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspectors is a highly inappropriate response to sequestration and would not be in the public interest....More

Yesterday we pointed out the weakness in wholesale beef markets and the impact this is having on live cattle values, according to the Daily Livestock Report. Pork wholesale prices are not faring much better, so far. While hog values have rebounded from last fall’s crash, they have come under increasing pressure as prices for most pork primals are now well below year ago levels....More

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk issued a statement this week expressing disappointment in response to Russia's suspension of U.S. meat imports....More

  Record-setting U.S. pork exports, matching the pace of 2011, and continuing impressive performance in 2012, couldn’t have come at a better time....More

You'd think more bedding is always warmer and more comfortable for hogs, but new Pork Checkoff-funded research has shown that this isn't true in any season – including winter....More