Futures Market News
Hog futures forecast to slip as pig population drives to record highs
May 01, 2012 04:32 PM
The four-year rally of lean hog futures is projected to wane next year due to a flourishing population of pigs in the U.S. and production from China bouncing back, according to Bloomberg.
This year will see farmers in the U.S. raise more than 117 million pigs, considered to be the most in more than 50 years, according to forecasts issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Generation of pork in the world is projected to increase 2.7 percent, driving toward record highs of more than 104 million metric tons.
"It looks like feed costs are going to decline a great deal in the fourth quarter," livestock economist Ron Plain with the University of Missouri in Columbia told the news source. "Farmers are likely to respond to that by increasing the sow herd late this year to give us more hogs in 2013, and therefore lower prices."
At 3:37 p.m. on Tuesday, lean hog futures fell 0.06 percent, a 0.0005 cent slip to 85.875 cents per pound.
Cattle Network reports the commodity's Tuesday rally was attributable to increases toward the end of the Monday session.
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