Just because producers are selling their products at a lower price does not mean that consumers get the benefit. This week, pork at the farm gate was 35¢ per pound. We have not seen that for 25 years. But consumers pay the same prices in the store because of the concentration in the distribution sector.
The problem is even worse in meat production, pork or beef. Our animals are now shipped to the United States on the hoof. Piglets are now exported to the United States live; the value is added there, as they are raised, slaughtered and processed. The same thing happens with cattle. We sell live cattle to the United States and they are slaughtered there.