Released April 14, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Low hog prices combined with high feed costs are putting the squeeze on hog producers.
How times have changed. It was only a few years ago that hogs were selling for $55 per hundred weight and corn was $2 per bushel. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that marketing heavier hogs meant more profit. However, with hog prices closer to $40 per hundred weight and corn over $5 per bushel, the most profitable weight to market hogs has changed drastically.
Fortunately, John Lawrence with Iowa State University has published an article and spreadsheet describing how to evaluate when to market hogs. You can find this information at http://www.ipic.iastate.edu/information/Market.weight.adjustment.pdf.
Lawrence points out that there is a call for lowering market weights to reduce supply. Slaughter weight is a variable under the producer’s control, and unlike the number of hogs coming to market, is one that can be adjusted in the short run.
It is also a dilemma for producers, Lawrence says. Lowering market weights does reduce supplies, but to have a price impact, a large number of producers must participate. But given the current forecast for hog and feed prices, all hog producers should evaluate their marketing weights.
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http://www.extension.umn.edu/extensionnews/2008/hogprices.html
Contacts: Mark Whitney is a swine specialist with University of Minnesota Extension.
Julie Christensen, (612) 626-4077, reuve007@umn.edu
