A USDA livestock analyst says that hog producers are being cautious this year.
The latest quarterly hogs and pigs report shows farrowings are down 5 percent from a year ago. However, this is offset by a record number of pigs per litter.
Meanwhile, total inventory is down 4 percent, while breeding inventory is roughly the same.
USDA says that producers are playing it close to the vest.
“Producers again, are sort of taking a very much of a ‘wait and see’ attitude in terms of increasing their farrowings or holding their breeding herd steady,” Shayle Shagam explains. “They’re not expanding much or in one case contracting in terms of the number of sows they didn’t have farrow.”
USDA points to prices as cause for the concern, as lean hog futures spiked in the middle of the year and then backed off. The department expects prices to continue easing this year.
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