US pork consumption is expected to be lower in the new year, due to higher export levels and feed prices.

 

As the new year kicks off, speculation is rife as to how industries will fare in the coming months.

 

Steve Meyer, president of Paragon Economics Inc., talked about how the pork meat industry will shape up for 2012.

 

"Per capita consumption, which is the amount each person in the US consumes, is down in the pork industry," he noted.

 

He said the reason consumption is down is due to the fact that Americans can only eat as much as farmers produce.

 

"Even with higher prices of pork, demand is still there because consumers are willing to pay for it," he said.

 

Due to higher feed costs and exports setting record-breaking totals, the amount of meat available in the US for consumption is lower.

 

"Production will increase when it is profitable to -- we're not going to produce more just for the sake of eating," Meyer said.

 

However, even though the amount of pork an individual eats may be down, breeding is up by 2% to 2.5%.

 

One major factor influencing the pork industry is the export market, which has been growing for several years, with a record year for producers in 2011.

 

"There are three main drivers behind the success in exports for the pork industry," Meyer explained.

 

These drivers include a cheap US dollar, an outbreak of foot and mouth disease last spring in South Korea and China buying more product because of high inflation.

 

"During 2011, around 22% of pork production was sent overseas in exports," Meyer said.

 

He noted US pork producers have the advantage when it comes to raising, processing and shipping meat to other countries.

 

"This past year, around 5.1 billion pounds of pork were exported, which is a big increase from the year before, when the US exported 4.2 billion pounds in carcass weight," he said.

 

While export numbers are up and per capita consumption is down, Meyer said he believes they will only continue to change as the demographic of the American population does.

 

"There is a large group of people, including myself, that will soon be entering an age where they eat less. Over the next few years this may impact the meat industry as the baby boomers enter this stage of life," he said.

 

Meyer also mentioned that today's young people are from a generation that does not have as many big meat eaters as their parents and grandparents.

 

But despite the changing demographic and high prices for pork, he believes that for now the industry will be fine, because the demand for meat still is very strong.