Thanks for that, now that you remind me, I do remember those things.
Something similar happened in the 90’s (I think that was the time, I had already left farming) but hogs went down to 10 cent lb. It was caused by over production, the ever-present nemesis of the farmer.
That meant you could buy an entire market hog for $20. Having raised over 200,000 hogs myself, I know that those guys had at least $80 in each animal. That lead to bankruptcy for a lot of hog farmers, opening the door for the mega hog farms that raise several hundred thousand market animals each year.
I'm interested in what an actual farmer thinks rather than all the talking heads on TV. Some say it's trade agreements, and other say it's Chinese internal politics. Many people in Ohio seem to think NAFTA is a deal with the devil. Trade agreements have brought us $29 DVD players, but have also opened markets overseas. I have to also think it makes it possible for them to need more food and buy Chevy's and Harley's. We may have trouble over here, but it seems it might be worse if we couldn't sell overseas.
It seems to be an argument over the chicken or the egg came first.