Capital Update – For the Week Ending Jan. 9, 2026

New Dietary Guidelines Put Pork ‘Front and Center on the Plate’

What happened: The Trump administration released the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and NPPC voiced its pleasure that the guidelines encourage Americans to consume a variety of protein foods from animal sources, including eggs, poultry, seafood, and red meat.

Issued by the departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, the new guidelines recognize that red meat, including pork, provides nutrient-dense protein and vitamins and minerals not found in plant-based proteins. While a committee that advised USDA and HHS suggested Americans should reduce and replace red meat with plant-based proteins, the Trump administration rejected that recommendation.

NPPC opposed the advisory committee’s initial recommendation on meat, noting “[t]here has been no scientific justification for reducing red meat and replacing it with plant-based proteins.”

Quintessentially American foods such as pork chops and Easter hams can remain a staple of American households, and the guidelines go so far as to recommend parents introduce nutrient-dense foods including meat early and continue focusing on nutrient-dense foods such as protein foods throughout childhood.

NPPC’s take: NPPC worked with the administration to ensure the guidelines serve the health and nutrition interests of the American public, reflect nutrition science, and continue to recommend animal-based protein such as red meat as a critical part of the American diet. It opposed calls to classify some pork products as ultra processed, a label that could prompt consumers to avoid eating them.

“America’s pork producers appreciate the 2025 Dietary Guidelines putting pork front and center on the plate,” said Rob Brenneman, NPPC president-elect and pork producer from Washington, Iowa. “They took note of producer concerns and rightly gave pork and other high-protein, nutrient-dense, and delicious meats their due when it comes to Americans’ health and dietary habits.”

Why it matters: The dietary guidelines inform all federal nutrition programs, including school breakfasts and lunches, and provide recommendations used by health professionals. They are updated by USDA and HHS every five years based on recommendations from an advisory committee.

NPPC Comments on USDA Plan to Address New World Screwworm

What happened: NPPC submitted comments on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s draft response plan for a new world screwworm detection in the United States. NPPC’s feedback addressed areas of the response including movement controls and movements to slaughter, treatment, and physical examinations, among others.

NWS is a flesh-eating parasite from female flies that lay eggs in wounds on warm-blooded animals, including pigs and people. According to USDA, animals that recently have given birth, suffered an injury, or had a surgical procedure such as tail docking or branding are most vulnerable. Even tick bites can attract NWS flies.

The disease has moved from South America through Central America and into Mexico over the past few years, with a case recently being identified in cattle a few hundred miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. It is endemic in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and some South American countries.

In May, USDA closed the U.S. southern border to imports of cattle from Mexico to prevent NWS from entering the United States. USDA unveiled plans in August that included building a sterile fly production facility in south Texas, investing in new technologies to eradicate NWS, and increasing surveillance at U.S. ports of entry.

NPPC’s take: NPPC has been working with USDA, FDA, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, the Swine Health Information Center, and the National Pork Board to understand knowledge gaps and opportunities to better prepare for this pest.

Why it matters: An outbreak of NWS in the United States would occupy limited numbers of response personnel and resources in the face of other emerging and foreign disease threats, and could significantly impact business continuity for pork producers throughout the U.S. Click here for more information on NWS.

USDA Updates Pork Carcass Cutout User’s Guide For 2026

What happened: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service revised and reissued its User’s Guide to USDA’s Pork Carcass Cutout to reflect updated industry yield assumptions and calculation inputs for 2026.

The guide explains how USDA estimates the value of a standardized pork carcass based on industry-average yields and wholesale pork cut prices reported under Livestock Mandatory Reporting. Industry-average cut yields, labor costs, and packaging costs are updated by USDA annually in January based on the results of a survey of packers conducted the previous July.

Key updates for 2026 include:

• No change in the rate used to estimate the cost of labor for converting sub-primal cuts beyond the primary sub-primal.
• Increase in average packaging cost adjustment.
• Updated primal and subprimal yields, including lean yield percentages.

Why it matters: USDA’s updating of yields and calculation inputs helps ensure the reported pork cutout values are based on current industry practices, supporting producers, packers, analysts, and other pork market participants in assessing supply and demand conditions and decision making. NPPC’s Competitive Markets Committee works closely with AMS to provide recommendations and ensure LMR reporting remains reflective of the marketplace. Click here for more information on the cutout.

USDA Makes Projections for Fiscal 2026 Farm Exports

What happened: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest forecast of agricultural exports for fiscal 2026 was up slightly from earlier projections but remained below actual exports over the past four years.

The December forecast, covering Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026, has overall farm exports at $173 billion. In fiscal 2025, they were $175.6 billion. Pork exports are expected to be $7.235 billion (not including variety meats, which are combined with beef variety meats), slightly lower than the $7.244 billion exported in fiscal 2025.

Top destinations for U.S. agricultural goods are expected to be Mexico, Canada, the European Union, Japan, China, and South Korea, which combined are projected to take more than $108 billion – about 63% – of U.S. farm products in fiscal 2026.

USDA forecast fiscal 2026 agricultural imports at $210 billion, down from $219.4 billion in fiscal 2025. The estimated agricultural trade deficit for fiscal 2026 would be $37 billion compared with last fiscal year’s record $43.7 billion.

Why it matters: U.S. farmers are dependent on exports, which account for about one-third of their production. Likewise, the U.S. pork industry relies on exports, which in (calendar) 2024 topped $8.6 billion, accounted for 25% of total production, and added the equivalent of more than $66 in value to each hog marketed.

California Congressman Doug LaMalfa Passes Away

What happened: Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Republican who represented northern California’s 1st Congressional District, passed away last week. He was 65.

LaMalfa, who was a rice farmer in Richvale, California, was first elected to Congress in the 2012 election. In the current Congress, he was serving on the House committees on agriculture, natural resources, and transportation and infrastructure.

Among his pro-agriculture votes, LaMalfa voted for the House Agriculture Committee’s 2024 Farm Bill, which provided a solution to the massive issues spurred by California Proposition 12. LaMalfa also publicly opposed Prop. 12, defending pork producers’ right to farm in the best way for their operation.

NPPC’s take: NPPC is saddened by the passing of Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a longtime supporter of pork producers and rural communities. As a member of the House Ag Committee, he was a reliable advocate on issues affecting U.S. pork. We extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and staff.

NPPC Hires New Director of Federal Affairs

What happened: Molly O’Connor has rejoined NPPC as director of federal affairs in the organization’s Washington, D.C., public policy office.

O’Connor began her career with NPPC as an international trade intern in 2011 and returns to the organization after more than a decade working in federal government relations and food and agriculture policy.

Most recently, O’Connor was director of federal government relations at CropLife America, where she led federal advocacy strategy and represented the U.S. pesticide industry. Her policy portfolio included the farm bill, regulatory reform, supply chains, and international trade.

Prior to that, she served as senior policy adviser at OFW Law, directing federal lobbying efforts for commodity and food clients on issues relevant to NPPC, along with other agriculture policy experience.

O’Connor earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business from Colorado State University.