Pork

The pork industry continues to grapple with the impact of African Swine Fever. From supply to demand, it's an outbreak that could have a lasting effect. “I don t think people really understand the magnitude of the hog supply in China,” said J ayson Lusk, department head and distinguished professor at Purdue University . “The amount of hogs they lost is double the size of the U.S. hog sector, so it s a big deal... Read More

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lifted its temporary restrictions on imports of fresh and frozen pork from Poland that were put in place on Oct. 18 due to concerns over export protocols following an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF). ASF is a highly transmissible, trade-limiting pig disease. As ASF continues to spread rapidly across eastern Europe and China, efforts to keep the highly contagious disease out of the U.S. continue to... Read More

Although China linked feeding kitchen waste to pigs for the majority of the early cases of African swine fever detected in the world s largest pork-producing country, the cause of the latest ASF outbreaks is not known at this time. Analysts are reporting that China s feed sector might have been contaminated, suggesting risks were high that the disease would continue to spread quickly, reports Reuters on Monday. “It is likely that the source of... Read More

Agricultural economists shared their forecast prices for the next several quarters following the Sept. 27 announcement of the September 2018 Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report in a teleconference funded by the Pork Checkoff. Len Steiner, president of Steiner Consulting Group in Merrimack, N.H., believes the Iowa-southern Minnesota hog price for end of the year will be about $56/cwt, down about 4.5% from a year ago. The price will come in a little higher at over... Read More

Cattle feeders saw average losses of $92 per head last week while packer margins hit $302. Feedyard closeouts were $75 per head worse than the week before, according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. Cash prices for fed cattle declined $2 per cwt last week, and the beef cutout declined $3 per cwt, closing at $212.47. The cost of finishing a steer last week was calculated at $1,578, which is $157 higher than the $1,421... Read More