Uncertainty Ahead for U.S. Pork Producers as Prop 12 Takes Effect
January 3, 2024 | 1 min to read
As California’s Proposition 12 takes effect on January 1, U.S. pork producers face significant challenges in an already uncertain market. Economist Bernt Nelson from the American Farm Bureau Federation highlights bearish fundamentals, noting an increase in hog inventory—up three percent from last year—indicating that supply exceeds demand, further complicating the situation for producers.
January 1 marks a big change for U.S. pork producers as California’s Proposition 12 takes effect. Chad Smith has more on the uncertainty on the horizon.
Smith: California’s Prop 12 goes into effect with the new year on January 1. It becomes California state law during a time of already great uncertainty in the pork market. American Farm Bureau Federation Economist Bernt Nelson talks about the current pork market conditions.
Nelson: We’ve got some bearish fundamentals going on in the pork market. We just had USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report released. We found out that we’ve still got quite a few hogs in the inventory. The breeding inventory was up three percent from this time last year, so what this means is we have more hogs in the market than we have demand.
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