Increased demand raises US hog prices

The pace of US hog slaughter was higher than expected in February as processors bid up hog prices in response to wholesalers’ increased demand for pork, according to the most recent USDA ERS Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook report. February ended with estimated federally inspected hog slaughter numbers just shy of 11 million head, almost 5% higher than a year ago after accounting for the month’s extra slaughter day. The February live equivalent price of 51-52% lean hogs averaged $55.24 per cwt, 1.8% higher than a year ago. Similarly, processors and wholesalers sold about 2.4 billion pounds of pork—almost 5% more than in February 2023—at estimated pork carcass cutout values of $89.14 per cwt, 8.3% higher than a year ago. Increased wholesale demand—higher volumes of pork sold at higher prices—likely provided sufficient margin for processors to pay higher prices for larger numbers of hogs. First-quarter pork production is raised about 30 million pounds to almost 7.2 billion ...