USDA will release its quarterly Hogs and Pigs report tomorrow. Pre-report estimates are that the total inventory as of 1 December will come in at 99 percent of 2019, which would imply 76.5 million head. The most interesting aspect of the report will be the number of hogs and pigs by weight category. COVID disruptions, like plant idling in the spring, and reconfigurations since, created a backlog of slaughter hogs, leading to some depopulating (which is eligible for compensation per yesterday’s COVID relief package) and fluctuations in slaughter weights.
Last week’s average slaughter weight was 294 pounds; the average for 2019 was 285 pounds. The spread widened in May with the plant shutdowns and by July started t...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
