Not even fifty years experience in the pork industry could prepare Everett Forkner for what he's seen this year.

"At these prices, you're losing about fifty dollars a head," says Forkner, who owns a farm in Richards, Mo.

"The cost of raising a pig is somewhere in the $50 to $55 a hundred weight. That's my cost, and I'm selling them for half that," he says.

The downturn in the economy is producing pork problems.

"For the past 24 to 27 months we've been in a negative position," says Forkner.

But, adding insult to injury was April's announcement of a possible pandemic.

"Because they thought it came out of a swine farm, it got dubbed swine flu," says Forkner. "That immediately sent shock waves through the consumers."

That's despite the fact that no pigs in the United States have ever had it and humans can't get the flu from pigs. The perceived threat is still having a major impact on the pork industry.

"I am more cautious than I've ever been," says Forkner.

These days, when you're visiting a pork farm, you've got to play it safe. Like wearing a protective suit, but it isn't for the visitor's protection. It's to protect the pigs from the visitors.

"If you picked up H1N1 yesterday or the day before yesterday, and I let you into that building and you sneezed, we might get infected," says Forkner.

He won't even let visitors in the same room with his swine.

"We're very reluctant to let anyone into the facilities," says Forkner.

If one of his pigs did get infected, it wouldn't affect those who ate the pork, but it would affect his "piggy bank."

Contact: dmagditch@kspr.com