March 7, 2007

US Midwest hogs trade steady to lower
 

US Midwest cash hogs traded mostly steady to lower on Tuesday (March 6), with the steady prices attributed to plants needing numbers for increased slaughter operations, dealers said.

However, there should be plenty of hogs after last week's snowstorm to prevent plants from having to bid higher, dealers said. Last week's snow also backed up hogs and those animals should come to market this week, they said.

Despite some steady prices on March 7, dealers said hog prices, on average, should be lower this week.

An Iowa dealer said a Saturday slaughter will have hogs priced at US$2 lower for the week.

Another dealer predicted Saturday's slaughter at 75,000 to 85,000 head.

A larger hog slaughter was expected this week as pork plants return to normal operations, with some plants possibly processing a few more hogs to make up for last week's storm-reduced production.

The US Department of Agriculture estimated Monday's (March 6)  slaughter at 416,000 head, compared with 400,000 a week ago and 396,000 a year ago.