November 13, 2014

US pork prices fall as pork supply rises and beef supply declines

Rising supply of pork than beef is causing prices of pork to go down in the US, according to a news report from Kansas.

The report said pork was gradually becoming more popular than beef due to lower prices. Alan Waggoner, the owner of Yoder Meats store in Yoder, Kansas, said, "You can buy a pork chop for US$5 dollars a pound versus a beef steak for US$13 dollars."

Waggoner saw a 30% drop in pork prices and a 10% rise in beef prices this year at his stores in Yoder and Wichita.

Analysts said this was due to growing pork supply and declining beef supply.

"We should see some of these pork prices continue to come down at the grocery store from here to the end of the year," John Jenkinson of the Ag Network was quoted as saying.

The decline in beef supply is attributed to drought starting in 2012. Jenkinson said the drops in cattle numbers were the lowest the US has seen in decades.

Jenkinson, however, expects beef prices to eventually go down due to more people buying pork.

"This will also help bring down some of the prices with beef, because the consumer will turn to cheaper cuts of meat, and therefore that will increase the supply of beef somewhat which will help ease some of the super-high prices that we've seen since the drought of 2012," he said.

The increase in the supply of pork was attributed to increased slaughter weights of hogs as they had been fed more to produce more pork, after the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv), which first struck in 2013, killed an estimated 8 million piglets.