Pig outlook: Lean hog futures bulls stabilize prices

Livestock analyst Jim Wyckoff reports on global pig news

11 July 2025

3 minute read

By: Jim Wyckoff

North America

The lean hog futures market is pausing this week, which slightly favors the bullish camp. However, buying interest has been limited by cash hog and fresh pork market fundamentals that have shown weakness recently. The latest CME lean hog index is down another $1.00 to $107.33 as of July 7. Thursday’s projected cash price is down 29 cents at $107.04. The national direct five-day rolling average cash hog price quote Wednesday was $111.12. Pork packer margins are firmly in the red, suggesting the decline from seasonal highs in the cash and product markets will continue as hog slaughter numbers are likely to gradually start to build.

Latest USDA and other news regarding the global pork industry

Gene-edited bacon arrives without labels: Is consumer trust at risk?

Lack of transparency around CRISPR pork sparks debate over labeling, choice and food system trust

In his recent column, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois warns that gene-edited meat is coming to Canada — without the transparency or labeling consumers might expect. The says the arrival of CRISPR-edited pork, approved by the US FDA and entering the North American market as soon as next year, poses a fundamental challenge: “Whether or not gene-edited meat poses a food safety risk isn’t the central issue. The issue is whether consumers have the right to know how their food was produced.”

Charlebois, Director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, writes that gene editing is already a fact of life in US pork production and, due to Canada’s imports, will soon be a reality for Canadian consumers as well — “no label will tell you whether your pork chop or bacon came from a genetically altered animal.”

He notes that industry leaders like Quebec-based duBreton are raising the alarm, arguing that gene editing is “incompatible with organic and humane production standards — and more importantly, with informed consumer choice.”

Drawing parallels to Canada’s earlier experience with genetically modified salmon, Charlebois warns, “even if a technology is deemed safe, consumer perception can dictate its commercial fate.” The earlier rollout of GM salmon — without mandatory labeling — sparked backlash and saw major retailers reject the product, ultimately forcing the company out of Canada.

“Labeling gene-edited products is not about fear — it’s about trust,” Charlebois writes. He stresses that the debate isn’t over the safety or potential of gene editing in food, but about the right to know and to make informed decisions. “Consumers don’t need to be protected from innovation, but they do need to be respected. The question is not whether gene-edited meat should exist; it’s whether its presence should be hidden.”

Ultimately, Charlebois calls for openness and transparency from the food industry: “If gene editing truly delivers benefits to farmers, processors, and consumers, then let’s have that conversation openly — with proper labeling, sound science, and the transparency Canadians expect from a modern food system.”