Increased productivity outweighs cuts to breeding herd in latest USDA report

Increased productivity outweighs cuts to breeding herd in latest USDA report

University of Missouri’s livestock economist Scott Brown says hog producers could face a little more price pressure in the near-term. “Breeding inventory that’s down from where we were a year ago by one percentage point,” he says.  “That’s a little above pre-report estimate but not much. I think when you look at then some of the total market hog inventory, that’s where we see perhaps some of the bigger numbers.”

He tells Brownfield while overall sow numbers were down slightly, some states had a more noticeable decline.