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Trump taps Howard Lutnick for Commerce Secretary, signaling tariff-heavy trade strategy. Lutnick has called the tariffs a negotiating tool that could be used to convince other countries to bring down their own levies or to force companies to move production to the U.S.

Burn in fire or die by electrocution? J.P. Koop chose to ride lightning.

Senate Ag Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow finally released the full text of the Senate farm bill on Monday, but it’s already drawing intense criticism. Even usually optimistic House Ag Chair GT Thompson signaled it’s time to focus on a 2018 farm bill extension by year’s end.

Threats of widespread tariffs and concerns about retaliation continue to stoke uneasiness in agriculture. With a growing trade deficit and hopes the U.S. could re-embark on the Phase One trade deal with China, could the focus back on trade be positive for agriculture?

Unfortunately, food industry leaders are often faced with extensive pressure from animal rights activist groups, asking them to commit to policies that are more than likely not rooted in science and often will negatively impact the supply chain.

The activist playbook is predictable: file a frivolous lawsuit, challenge an effective agricultural rule or regulation, flood the case with money and cast farmers as villains. This strategy, designed to stifle American ag, threatens not only farmers but also our entire food supply.

NPPC releases statement on behalf of U.S. pork producers expressing frustration with lack of Prop 12 solution in latest farm bill text.

Cash-traded weaner pig volume was below average this week with, 55,858 head being reported Cash feeder pig reported prices were $69.35, up $4.98 per head from last week.

The Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act, which builds on the proposal Stabenow released in May, includes $39 billion in new resources “to keep farmers farming, families fed and rural communities strong.”

From the weather to prices, production to demand, and everywhere in between, this is an industry where certainties are scarce and variation reigns supreme. In essence, pork production is the art and science of stacking the deck that nature and the market deals out.