22 August 2025

5 minute read

By: Jim Wyckoff

North America

October lean hog futures fell 20 cents to $89.95 Wednesday. The lean hog futures market is consolidating this week. While buying interest has been limited by a mild deterioration in cash hog and pork market fundamentals, selling pressure has been limited amid record gains in the cattle futures markets this week. The latest CME lean hog index is down another 52 cents to $109.06 as of Aug. 16. Today’s projected cash index price is down 49 cents at $108.57. The national direct five-day rolling average cash hog price quote Wednesday was $110.23.

Weekly USDA US pork export sales

Pork: Net sales of 19,200 MT for 2025 were down 9 percent from the previous week and 29 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were primarily for Mexico (5,300 MT, including decreases of 700 MT), South Korea (4,000 MT, including decreases of 500 MT), Japan (2,600 MT, including decreases of 100 MT), Canada (2,000 MT, including decreases of 200 MT), and Colombia (1,800 MT, including decreases of 100 MT). Exports of 28,600 MT were up 6 percent from the previous week and 4 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were primarily to Mexico (12,800 MT), Japan (3,900 MT), China (2,500 MT), South Korea (2,400 MT), and Colombia (1,800 MT).

USDA Farm Assistance Program Updates: Livestock

The USDA program expands relief efforts, and outlines future adjustments. USDA has provided a detailed update on its farm assistance programs, highlighting the rollout of the American Relief Act, Farm Bill 1.0 programs, disaster relief programs for both crops and livestock, and major revisions to income and eligibility rules.

Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP)

• Provides $2 billion in emergency relief payments to livestock producers suffering losses due to drought, wildfires, or flooding in calendar years 2023 and 2024.
• The ELRP expanded USDA’s reach by including flood-related grazing losses for the first time.
• FSA leveraged existing Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) data to streamline payment calculations and expedite relief.
• Emergency relief payments were automatically issued to producers who have an approved LFP application on file for 2023 and/or 2024.
• Additional ELRP assistance for other losses authorized by the Act, including flooding, will be announced later this year.
• Phase One (Completed): Automatic payments for drought and wildfire losses on federally managed lands, leveraging existing Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) data. More than $1B issued.
• Phase Two (Upcoming): Covers private land losses from flooding and wildfire, with payments expected to begin Sept. 8.

Eligibility will be determined using NOAA flood mapping and county-level assessments, though producers must file applications to receive assistance. USDA Farm Assistance Program Updates

Judge allows PFAS groundwater contamination lawsuit against Perdue Farms to proceed

Residents claim Salisbury, Maryland groundwater was polluted with “forever chemicals.”

A federal judge has rejected Perdue Farms’ bid to dismiss a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of contaminating Salisbury’s groundwater with PFAS, a class of synthetic “forever chemicals” linked to cancer and immune system damage.

The suit, filed in 2024 by six residents on behalf of those living west and southwest of Perdue’s industrial complex, alleges the company’s operations tainted local water supplies. Groundwater testing at Perdue’s Salisbury facility showed “elevated levels of PFAS,” according to an April company statement.

Maryland’s Department of the Environment (MDE) has directed Perdue to test properties within a set radius of the plant. The ruling comes a year after Perdue agreed to pay $12 million to settle air pollution violations with MDE — the second-largest civil penalty in the agency’s history.

Judge orders USDA to restore five terminated grants

D.C. court says agency likely acted arbitrarily and contrary to statute in cutting awards, including a Climate Smart Commodities project.

A federal judge ordered USDA to reinstate funding for five nonprofit grant awards that had been terminated by the Trump administration, including one tied to USDA’s Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities initiative, issuing a preliminary injunction after finding the agency’s actions were likely “arbitrary and capricious” and, for two awards, likely contrary to statute.

Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted relief to the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN), Oakville Bluegrass Cooperative (OBC), Agroecology Commons (AC), Providence Farm Collective (PFC), and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), concluding they showed a likelihood of success on key Administrative Procedure Act claims and irreparable harm absent an injunction.

The court’s order lists six affected grants in the record — restoring five terminated awards and enjoining the announced termination of a sixth — covering programs including Urban and Community Forestry, Climate Smart Commodities, the Land Access Program, and other USDA components.

In discussing the Climate Smart Commodities context, the opinion notes the administration’s move to cancel or reframe the program and impose new funding thresholds, which the court found inadequately explained in the termination record when applied to at least one plaintiff’s award.

The court determined that APA review was available notwithstanding the government’s argument that the dispute was purely contractual, and it found the agency’s form letters and sparse justifications insufficient, particularly where statutory purposes and reliance interests were implicated.

The injunction allows the plaintiffs’ projects to continue while the case proceeds, with the court requiring no bond and setting aside the terminations on a preliminary basis following an Aug. 6 hearing.

The next week’s likely high-low price trading ranges:

October lean hog futures--$87.825 to $93.275 and with a sideways bias

September soybean meal futures--$285.00 to $300.00, and with a sideways-higher bias

December corn futures--$4.00 to $4.25 and a sideways-higher bias

Latest analytical daily charts lean hog, soybean meal and corn futures