Pork producers seeing profits again, may lead to record pork supply
Higher prices for pork and lower prices for feed mean that U.S. hog farmers are making money for the first time in a year, reports Bloomberg News. As a result, producers are increasing the sizes of their herds, potentially leading to a record amount of pork.
About 5.882 million sows were withheld for breeding by June 1, the most in four years, with a record 10.31 pigs being born per litter, USDA data show. The cost of corn, the main feed grain, tumbled 32 percent in the past year. Hog futures for December, which rose as high as 83.7 cents last month, will drop 8.2 percent to 75 cents a pound in Chicago by the time they settle, according to the median of nine analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.