September 24, 2007

 

Last week's US hog slaughter new high for month of October

 

 

Last week's estimated hog slaughter figure of 2.242 million head topped the year-ago figure by 102,000 head and easily surpassed the previous high for the month of September set just last week.

 

Previous weekly and monthly slaughter records have been falling by the wayside since July as hog supplies have pushed above expected levels.

 

Market analysts and livestock dealers credit increased availability of vaccines for porcine circovirus associated disease earlier in the year for a portion of the growth in hog supplies. They also said producers have been reluctant to trim their breeding herds following a long stretch of profitability, despite having higher feed costs.

 

The US Department of Agriculture early in the day released monthly slaughter data for August. Glenn Grimes, agricultural economist at the University of Missouri, said August hog slaughter was the third largest overall and the biggest for any month outside of the fourth quarter.

 

Grimes expects the hefty rates to continue into the final quarter and for monthly slaughter to exceed 10 million head for the first time ever in October. He predicts the October total will be between 10.2 million and 10.3 million head.

 

There will be 23 weekdays, one more than a year ago and the largest number possible in October with no holidays, he said.

 

Also, a couple of plants are currently in the process of expanding their slaughtering capacities, which will help push a few more hogs through the system on a daily basis by next month.

 

The huge slaughter weighed on wholesale pork prices which finished the week at US$65.07 per hundredweight, down US$2.91, or 4.3 percent, from last Friday.

 

US cattle slaughter for the week was estimated at 645,000 head, compared with 643,000 a week ago and 658,000 a year ago. Year-to-date slaughter stands at 24.635 million head, up 1.2 percent from a year ago.

 

Year-to-date hog slaughter is estimated at 75.790 million head, up 2.5 percent from a year ago.

 

The USDA estimated total beef, pork and lamb production for the week at 955.5 million pounds. Previous week's output was 948.7 million pounds. The year-ago figure also was 948.7 million. Year-to-date combined meat output is 34.338 billion pounds, up 1.3 percent from last year.

 

Broiler/fryer slaughter for the week was estimated at 170.521 million head, compared with 168.326 million a week ago and 165.750 million a year ago.