As Democrats gain control of both the House and Senate following a historic election, National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) CEO Bryan Humphreys says the pork industry’s immediate task remains unchanged: navigating severe domestic price pressures and educating a fresh wave of lawmakers on critical agricultural priorities before regulatory patchworks like Proposition 12 disrupt interstate commerce.
While this political shift may alter where congressional leaders focus time and resources, Humphreys emphasizes that it does not change NPPC’s ability to deliver results for pork producers.
“From a trade association standpoint, but also from a producer and investor standpoint, the key for us is that there are a lot of new members from both parties from all around the country. Some of them have an ag background. Many do not,” Humphreys says. “A big charge of all of our jobs here in agriculture is to get to D.C. and educate those new members on what agriculture is, how we operate, and the needs agriculture has for the next few years.”
Market Headwinds: Sinking Prices and Soft Demand
Beyond politics, economic headwinds are intensifying on the farm. With December lean hog futures hitting six-year lows and negotiated cash prices sinking near $50 per hundredweight, NPPC is looking to Washington for regulatory certainty to help alleviate market stress.
“The hog market is absolutely a challenge for our industry, and we have a couple of things working here,” Humphreys explains. “Weekly slaughter numbers from Q3 were up about 10%. Average carcass weights were up about 3%. But when you look over Q3, year over year, we’re very comparable to where we were. That means we have a demand issue, and some of that is global.”
Humphreys notes that production across the top five pork-exporting nations (the U.S., Brazil, Canada, the EU and Mexico) is up just over 3%, contributing to an ample global supply. Domestically, domestic movement also needs a boost.
“Thank goodness for the additional USDA Section 32 purchase announced last week—$41.1 million on top of a $27 million purchase back in August,” Humphreys says. “Is that the end-all, be-all? No, but it is a recognition by the USDA that there’s a need to move product here.”
Farm Bill Outlook: Eyeing a Lame-Duck Fix
On the legislative front, Humphreys acknowledges that calendar constraints make a traditional, standalone farm bill passage unlikely before year’s end. However, NPPC sees a realistic path to attach key agricultural measures, including a congressional fix for California’s Proposition 12, to must-pass lame-duck legislation.
“I am the eternal optimist,” Humphreys says. “Do I think we can get a farm bill done or some variation thereof through lame duck? I do. Do I think it will be a traditional farm bill as one package? Probably not. But adding it to other legislation and getting it moving, I think there’s a possibility there.”
For pork producers, securing a federal solution to Prop 12 remains a top priority to prevent a patchwork of individual state confinement mandates. A fix was included in the bipartisan House Agriculture Committee Farm Bill, and NPPC hopes negotiators will preserve that language in year-end negotiations.
“Farmers want to see a fix to the potential patchwork,” Humphreys says. “This is about protecting interstate commerce. This is about ensuring the ability for agriculture to invest and grow their operations—not just the pork industry, but all of agriculture. I’m continually optimistic that reason will win the day, and that members of both parties and both chambers will see this one through.”
Listen to the entire conversation with host Michelle Rook on AgriTalk.
