It's a bad time to be a pig farmer. Pork, which has been the fastest growing US meat export, has succumbed to swine flu.

Barrons reports that the industry is set to lose $5 billion this year. Analysts say it's in the worst shape it's been since the Depression years of the 1930s.

According to Bloomberg, hog futures are the second-worst commodity investment of 2009 and they might fall 33% and there's absolutely no light at the end of the tunnel with the big export markets of Russia and China drying up. Scientists say eating pork is safe but swine flu has contributed an 11% drop in global pork sales.

The industry's problem is that it's not built for fine tuning and adjustment. It's just structured to keep producing hogs. Rather than fixing itself up, the pork industry has joined the line of sectors with snouts in the trough, asking for a US government bailout. As Forbes reports, it's asking the US government to spend $50 million buying up excess pork supplies. Just another industry asking for a handout.