Lower dressed weights trim the first quarter of pork production in the US

U.S. pork processors harvested fractionally more hogs last month than in February 2022, but overall produced less pork. Federally inspected hog slaughter for February 2023 was 0.4% higher than a year ago, at 9.9 million head; while estimated FI pork production, at 2.16 billion pounds, was down 0.2% from the year prior. According to the USDA Economic Research Service's Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook for March 2023, the contributing variable for these figures was dressed weights, with February 2023 weights down nearly 1.4 pounds from February 2022. "While average dressed weights began 2023 at above year-earlier weights, they have trended lower since," states USDA ERS Agricultural Economist Mildred Haley. "Among the most important variables driving producers to market animals earlier are feed costs, disease losses and uncertainty about the continued strength of consumer pork demand." Prior to COVID (2017-2019), feed costs were relatively moderate, with farm corn prices ...