February 2, 2009

 

US federally inspected hog slaughter was below a year ago for a tenth consecutive week, largely due to significantly lower imports of hogs and pigs from Canada.

 

During those 10 weeks, slaughter has averaged about 2.4 percent below the same period a year earlier. In the latest five weeks, however, the drop-off has been about 2.8 percent.

 

The US Department of Agriculture's data on livestock imports from Canada show a sharp decline in the number of hogs and pigs shipped into the US so far in 2009. For the first three full weeks of the year, live swine imports were down about 338,000 head, a drop of nearly 4 percent from a year earlier. Of these, about 175,000 were slaughter-ready barrows and gilts. The balance of the reduction was in feeder pig imports.

 

The string of lower weekly slaughters may be in jeopardy next week. The year-earlier figure for the first week in February was reduced from normal by a severe winter storm in eastern Iowa and Illinois. A few plants were affected for a day. Some made up a portion of the downtime on Saturday but others waited until the following week to make up the shortfall.

 

Some market managers and livestock dealers said late this week that their surveys of market-ready supplies for next week and the following week show a slight drop in numbers.

 

Feeder pig imports have been on the decline since last spring and early summer, so there are fewer Canadian-born hogs in US finishing barns. As these pigs reach slaughter weight, the supplies should tighten further, analysts and livestock dealers said.

The peak in the fall-winter slaughter so far was 2.388 million head set the week-ended Jan. 10. A year ago, the high for the period was 2.470 million and a record figure during the week-ended Dec. 19, 2007.

 

In other market areas, wholesale pork and boxed beef prices continue to run slightly above a year ago. The USDA's choice beef carcass composite value in January has averaged 0.7 percent above a year earlier while select is up 1.9 percent, according to the Dow Jones Newswire's daily beef-o-meter index. The pork cutout to date has averaged 2.4 percent above a year earlier.

 

This week's cattle slaughter was estimated at 631,000 head, compared with 632,000 a week ago and 612,000 a year earlier.

 

The week's hog slaughter estimate was 2.267 million head, compared with 2.236 million a week ago and 2.273 million a year earlier.

                

The USDA estimated total beef, pork and lamb production for the week at 961.8 million pounds. The previous week's output was 960.0 million pounds, and the year-earlier figure was 940.8 million pounds.

 

Broiler/fryer slaughter for the week was estimated at 148.490 million head, compared with 148.579 million a week ago and 166.095 million a year earlier.