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President Donald Trump’s tariff policies continue to bring
uncertainty to various markets, including agricultural markets
and exports.
During an Illinois House Agriculture and Conservation Committee
hearing Tuesday afternoon, Jennifer Tyree with the Illinois Pork
Producers Association laid out the strengths in her industry.
To the question of prospective tariffs, Tyree said they are a
big concern they’re monitoring closely, but Illinois’ pork
industry is focused on maintaining their market share.
“Closer to 30% of our product is exported,” Tyree said. “At this
point we are holding our own. We are just trying very hard to
continue to keep that market share because I think what is our
biggest concern is if we lose market share, it’s very hard to
get it back.”
Illinois’ pork industry touts an estimated $13.8 billion for the
state’s economy and supports more than 57,000 jobs.
Illinois Beef Association Executive Vice President Josh St.
Peters told committee members even with challenges, Illinois’
beef production is growing.
“Market prices have actually been very strong for beef
production right now and it’s a good time to be feeding and
selling cattle,” St. Peters said. “It’s helping buoy farms in
Illinois while other commodity prices have been on the decline.
But we do need help protecting and preserving this opportunity.”
St. Peters said there are around a million head of cattle in
Illinois on any given day spread across approximately 14,000
family farms. He encouraged legislators to support the beef
industry.
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