September 14, 2010

Canadian hog imports down 14.7% in July

The number of hogs imported from Canada during July, 488,428 heads, was down 14.7% from a year earlier, according to economists.

This was the 28th consecutive month that swine imports were below year-earlier. Feeder pig imports were down 11.6% while imports of slaughter hogs were down 27.6%.

Last week's hog slaughter totalled 1.917 million heads, down 9.3% from the week before and down 6.4% compared to slaughter during the same week last year. Year-to-date, pork production is down 4.5%, according to reports.

The average carcass weight of barrows and gilts slaughtered the week ending August 28 was 196 pounds, down 1 pound from the week before and down 1 pound from a year ago.

Meanwhile, Iowa-Minnesota live weights last week averaged 266.7 pounds, down 0.7 pounds compared to a year earlier. This was the fifth consecutive week that Iowa-Minnesota weights have averaged below year-ago levels.