USA - Hog prices heading for record highs, but volatile grain markets loom
http://www.porknetwork.com/pork-news/latest/Hog-prices-heading-for-record-highs-but-volatile-grain-markets-loom.html
02-Mar-2011 (15 years 3 months 7 days ago)Hog prices are on pace for record highs in 2011 amid tight animal inventories and robust exports, but pork producers face volatile grain and animal prices that likely will keep expansion plans in check, U.S. Department of Agriculture livestock analyst Shayle Shagam said.
Slaughter-ready hogs in the major Midwest markets this year will probably average $58 to $61 per hundred pounds, up from $55.06 last year, Shagam said during a Feb. 25 address at the USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum in Arlington, Va. This year’s average may top the current annual record of $58.78 set in 1982, Shagam said.
U.S. pork producers will continue to benefit from a resurgent export market as the global economy gains strength and the dollar remains relatively weak, Shagam said. An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in South Korea’s livestock herd, which forced the slaughter of about one-third of the country’s cattle and hogs, will further fuel exports.
In 2011, pork exports will rise an estimated 11 percent, to 4.68 billion pounds, following a 3-percent increase in 2010, Shagam said. The projected total would top the current record set in 2008.
Slaughter-ready hogs in the major Midwest markets this year will probably average $58 to $61 per hundred pounds, up from $55.06 last year, Shagam said during a Feb. 25 address at the USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum in Arlington, Va. This year’s average may top the current annual record of $58.78 set in 1982, Shagam said.
U.S. pork producers will continue to benefit from a resurgent export market as the global economy gains strength and the dollar remains relatively weak, Shagam said. An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in South Korea’s livestock herd, which forced the slaughter of about one-third of the country’s cattle and hogs, will further fuel exports.
In 2011, pork exports will rise an estimated 11 percent, to 4.68 billion pounds, following a 3-percent increase in 2010, Shagam said. The projected total would top the current record set in 2008.