There are times when it can be frustrating to be a farmer! There are so many things that you have no control over, weather, commodity prices, input costs, equipment repairs just to name a few. When you grow up on a farm you learn it "goes with the territory." If you do not want to deal with unknowns find another profession. However, most other professions have unknowns and frustrations at times too! Now we have another unknown to add to our list, exports and the trade dispute!

It appears that for the moment, Pork Producers are taking the brunt of the trade war. Currently China has put a tax on pork imported from the United States that amounts to around $8.00 per pig. Friday tariffs took effect on steel and aluminum imported from Mexico and Canada into the United States. Mexico and Canada are threatening to retaliate with import taxes on pork.

The U.S. pork industry shipped $1.5 billion of product to Mexico, our largest export market and $792 million to Canada which is our fourth largest. Iowa State University Economist Dermot Hayes calculated the value of a hog has dropped $18 an animal since all the trade war talk with China began in March. That amounts to a loss of $2.2 billion on an annual basis.

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