Large pork supplies and trade disruptions have farmers nervous for what the fourth quarter of 2018 will bring, and rightly so, says Purdue livestock economist Chris Hurt.

“We’ve got a lot of supply coming, and then we have the tariffs on top of that; that will weaken demand,” Hurt told FarmWeek­Now. “Running current numbers, we’re looking at losses in the fourth quarter that would be the worst since, dare I say it, the fourth quarter of 1998, that tragic time we had in the hog industry.”

If the U.S. loses trade opportunities with China...