Winter storm disrupts hog slaughter in the US

A strong winter storm disrupted last week's hog market. Wednesday and Thursday slaughter was far below usual. Although Saturday's slaughter was up 33% year-over-year, it appears that roughly 120,000 hogs were carried over to this week for slaughter. This could be a drag on prices for the next few days. Ron Plain Hog slaughter has been running above expectations in recent months. The heavy weight market hog inventory in USDA's December Hogs and Pigs report implied slaughter would be down 1.9% over the last 13 weeks. Actual hog slaughter has been more-or-less even with last year. The higher than predicted hog slaughter is likely due in small parts to an increase in slaughter hog imports from Canada, an increase in sow slaughter, more-current marketings evidenced by lighter slaughter weights, and adverse weather, but mostly to underreporting of market hogs in the December hog survey. A change in pork production in one direction drives hog prices in the opposite direction with the ...