The farm crisis has touched nearly every sector of agriculture in southern Minnesota but it may be hog producers who have suffered most. It was their fate to be caught between two profit destroying events: record low prices and wrenching structural changes which are transforming the hog industry. When prices collapsed a year ago some farmers began selling hogs and processed meat directly to consumers in hopes of getting a better price. The market has recovered a little this year but prices are still below the break even point. Some farmers wonder if hogs will ever again be the profit center they were a few years ago.