Which stories caught the most attention in 2025? From pork’s new tagline to China exports and from Prop 12 to fires, here’s a look back at the top 10 stories on PorkBusiness.com in 2025.
1. Panic Slowly: China’s Cancellation of 12,000 Tons of U.S. Pork Sends Loud Message
It’s a mad scramble to find a new home for 12,300 metric tons of U.S. pork produced for China that was cancelled last week in the latest trade war casualty, says U.S. Meat Export Federation vice president for economic analysis Erin Borror.
The impact of this cancellation is being felt throughout the entire red meat industry, she adds. These high duties have effectively halted trade and could result in billions of lost dollars for U.S. livestock producers.
USDA says this is the largest cancellation since May 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Trump administration officials suggested last week that a de-escalation of trade tensions between the U.S. and China could be coming soon, USMEF says neither side has adjusted recently heightened tariff rates. Read the full story.
2. Tragic Turn: Trailer of Show Pigs Bursts Into Flames on I-80
With the windows rolled down and the sun on his face, Chad Rieck admits he was having a pretty good day driving down Interstate 80. He was pulling a trailer with four gilts, and one of those gilts was bringing home the title of Third Overall Purebred Breeding Gilt from the Aksarben Stock Show.
For Chad and his wife, Amy, spending precious time with their 17-year-old daughter Hollynn at a stock show is something they don’t take for granted. Their busy daughter, now a senior, was juggling the show weekend with homecoming, volleyball and dance team. Because of this, she drove separately to the show with her mom to squeeze in more of her school activities.
Separated by a couple minutes on the interstate, they were chatting on the phone keeping each other awake on the drive from Grand Island, Neb., back to their farm in Creston, Iowa. Suddenly, the traffic slowed down and their day took a tragic turn. Read the full story.
3. Iowa Man Reveals Best Tenderloin from 99-County Tour
After a ‘whirlwind of a sandwich odyssey’ in Iowa, JayJay Goodvin, chief explorer of the Iowa Gallivant, revealed his favorite tenderloin from his 99-county tour.
Just over 10 months ago, Goodvin started a quest to eat a tenderloin in all 99 counties in Iowa. With more than 28 million views of his videos across his social media platforms, the response to his journey left him speechless.
After thoughtful analysis and some soul-searching, Goodvin announced the winner to a live WHO 13 News audience on Feb. 13. The winning tenderloin was served by The Landmark Bistro of Grundy Center, Iowa. What set this tasty tenderloin apart from the other 98? Read the full story.
4. California Doesn’t Get to Tell Iowa How to Raise Hogs in Iowa, Attorney Bird Says
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led 23 states in a brief supporting Iowa pork producers against California’s strict-hog-housing regulations — Proposition 12, the Office of the Attorney General reported in an article on Jan. 29. As the nation’s top pork-consuming state, California has major influence over the whole market.
“Proposition 12 sets harsh regulations that will spike pork prices, dictate to other states how they should raise their hogs, and force some pork producers to close up shop if they cannot afford to keep up with the strict new mandate,” the article said. Read the full story.
5. Viral Videos Fuel Interest in Pig Shows
Red shirt, hair in a bun, the stare. You don’t even have to be in the stock show industry, and you’ll likely remember seeing Karis Dadson, 14, showing her pigs in iconic tiktoks, shorts, videos and reels. Not only are these videos reaching youth exhibitors in the livestock industry, but the impact goes even further. The Pat McAfee Show recently discussed showing livestock because of this family’s social media outreach. They’ve been featured on ESPN and BarStool Sports, and Will Smith has even shared their posts.
For the Dadson family of Paso Robles, Calif., the attention their videos have sparked was unexpected. Kara Dadson, mother of the 14-year-old twins Karis and Krew, said she started it to help build their show pig business, Dadson Farms. She posted their first video on TikTok in 2019.
“I did a lot of social media with my small business prior to that and thought I’d try to do the same thing with our show pig business,” Kara says. “It was frustrating in the beginning, because I’m like, ‘Why can’t my small business videos go as big as the pig videos?’ It took off, and I just continually kept doing it. I never expected this to happen.” Read the full story.
6. National Pork Board Says New Tagline is About You, But It’s Not For You
The National Pork Board announced the tagline of its new pork campaign, “Taste what pork can do,” before a crowd of pork producers at the National Pork Industry Forum on March 13.
One message stood out to marketing advisory committee members Jennifer Tirey, Rob Brenneman and Gordon Spronk as they discussed the new tagline: I’m not the target. Likely, neither are you.
Here’s why that’s good news. Read the full story.
7. China’s Tipping Point: What Looming Crisis Means for U.S. Pork in 2025
There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” This quote from Vladimir Lenin is particularly relevant as globalism, the dominant economic system of the past several decades, faces radical transformation entering 2025.
At the forefront of this transformation is China, the “workshop of the world” and a major destination for agricultural exports. However, China is now grappling with a host of existential threats. The question is not if but when we will witness a total system collapse, and this year appears to mark the beginning of the end, as recession looms overhead.
The challenges facing China could fill volumes, but three key factors make its problems insurmountable. Read the full story.
8. Josh Maschhoff Opens Up About Building on the Family Legacy in Pork Production
When you think about Josh Maschhoff, many things come to mind. He’s a husband, father, president, son, nephew, firefighter, friend, church elder, coach, sixth-generation hog farmer and director of production and flow for The Maschhoffs to name a few. What he is not is an overly emotional person, says his wife Angela, until you get him talking about the family business.
“Josh respects what the generations before him have accomplished,” she says. “He strives every day to work hard to continue building on what they started. He feels a responsibility to continue the family legacy. He cares not only about his family farm, but also the success of the pork industry in the state of Illinois and across the country.”
Growing up as the sixth generation on the Maschhoff’s family farm in Carlyle, Ill., his earliest memories were riding in the combine with his dad singing Randy Travis’ song, “Digging Up Bones.” When he was in grade school, he remembers the business taking off and adding its first production partners. Read the full story.
9. Is the Swine Industry Ready for H5N1? Texas Veterinarian Says “No”
Nearly one year ago, USDA made a shocking announcement. Highly pathogenic avian influenza type A H5N1 (H5N1) was identified in milk and in cows on two dairy farms in Texas and two dairy farms in Kansas. A disease no veterinarian had previously feared in cattle had jumped from wild birds to domestic cows.
Scanlon Daniels, a large animal veterinarian with Circle H Headquarters in Dalhart, Texas, received a call 10 days prior to that announcement that he will never forget from one of his dairy clients that something wasn’t right with some of the cows.
“My client sent me a text: ‘I think I might have it,’” Daniels says. Read the full story.
10. FDA Grants PIC Approval for PRRS-Resistant Pig Gene-Editing Technology
The gene edit used in PIC’s PRRS-resistant pig has been determined safe and effective by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA granted approval to PIC on April 30, putting PIC among the first companies to gain approval for gene editing in commercial livestock in the U.S.
“We have spent years conducting extensive research, validating our findings and working with the FDA to gain approval,” Matt Culbertson, PIC’s chief operating officer, says in a release. “Today marks a major milestone for consumers, farmers and the entire pork industry who have desperately hoped for a solution to PRRS.”
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) costs the U.S. pork industry more than $1.2 billion per year. This FDA-approved gene edit will be used to breed PIC’s PRRS-resistant pigs, which are resistant to this devastating, global swine disease. Read the full story.
