It's So Hot That Pigs Are Getting Skinnier, Boosting U.S. Prices
It's So Hot That Pigs Are Getting Skinnier, Boosting U.S. Prices
(Bloomberg) -- How hot is it? It’s so hot that pigs are losing weight.
America has had a fat pig problem in recent months, with a hefty hog herd sending pork prices tumbling. But as the U.S. bakes under scorching heat, the animals are sweating off the pounds.
Hog producers aggressively sold animals in June to try and work through burdensome supplies. That sent cash prices tumbling. But it appears the strategy worked and now the average weight of pigs sent to slaughter is falling, signaling that the marketers successfully offloaded their too-numerous winter and spring hogs and now have a more slender summer lot to sell. As a result, prices are rebounding.
“With hog weights more under control and hot summer weather in the forecast, producers are no longer desperate to try to move hogs,” a report from Steiner Consulting Group on Wednesday said.
National spot prices for hogs averaged 80.88 cents a pound on Wednesday, according to the latest government data. That’s 22% higher than a year earlier.
--With assistance from Ellen Braitman.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lydia Mulvany in Chicago at lmulvany2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Attwood at jattwood3@bloomberg.net, Millie Munshi, Patrick McKiernan
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