Top Farmer Conference: January 10, 2025

As one of the most successful and longest-running management programs specifically crafted for farmers, the Purdue Top Farmer Conference is a one-day event for agricultural producers and agribusiness professionals looking to navigate the complexities of today's agricultural landscape. Participants will have the opportunity to network with peers and hear from farm management experts and agricultural economists from Purdue, Farm Credit Services of America, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Acres, a land value data analytics company.

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hogs. pork

Long-Term Trends in Pigs per Litter

Pigs per litter has increased at a rate of 0.107 pigs per year since 1994. Another way of stating the same thing, the annual growth rate of pigs per litter in the U.S. was 1.1 percent from 1994 to 2023. Continued improvements in production performance will help ensure the U.S. swine industry remains competitive.

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Prospects for Swine Feed Costs in 2024

Indiana corn prices have dropped sharply since September. The most recent WASDE report indicates that corn prices could remain low for the foreseeable future. Obviously, lower expected corn prices will translate into lower expected feed costs during the first part of 2024. What trends in feed costs will we see for 2024? And what’s the impact of corn and soybean meal prices on feed costs for farrow-to-finish and swine finishing operations?

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Impact of Lower Corn Prices on Swine Feed Costs

Indiana corn prices during the first quarter of this year were on average approximately $6.60 per bushel. The most recent WASDE report indicates that corn prices could be substantially lower for the upcoming crop.

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Prospects for Swine Feed Costs in 2023

Corn prices are 25% higher and soybean meal prices are 1% higher. Given that many of the supply and demand factors impacting the 2022 crop are going to persist way into 2023, what are the prospects for feed costs for farrow-to-finish and swine finishing production in the upcoming year?

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Exports Continue to Be A Bright Spot for U.S. Pork Sector

Exports of U.S. pork to all destinations in 2021 declined modestly (3%) when compared to 2020, but export volume in 2021 was still the second largest on record. U.S. pork production declined 2% in 2021 to 27.7 billion pounds so pork exports, at just over 7 billion pounds, equated to 25% of U.S. pork production.

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Prospects for Swine Feed Costs in 2022

Given the uncertainty related to supply and demand, feed prices are likely to remain volatile during the 21/22 marketing year. This article examines trends in feed costs as well as the impact of corn and soybean meal prices on feed costs for farrow-to-finish and swine finishing operations.

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Pork Belly Price Strength Leads the Way Among Pork Cuts

The pandemic disrupted food production, processing, distribution, and consumption across the board. As a result, dramatic shifts in price relationships have become commonplace. Examining changes in these price relationships can provide clues to shifting interest among consumers for food items, including various pork cuts.

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Exports More Important to Pork than Beef or Chicken

It’s no surprise that exports are an important market outlet for U.S. pork production. But did you know that exports are even more important to the pork industry than they are to either the beef or poultry industries?

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Pork Cutout Futures Provide New Risk Management Tool

Although lean hog futures prices and pork cutout values are correlated, they can diverge significantly at times leading to interest in developing a risk management tool that more closely matches the price series used in many cash contracts. Recently CME Group launched pork cutout futures and options in an attempt to address this challenge.

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The Importance of Managing Hog Operation Feed Costs

It comes as no surprise that feed costs on hog operations have risen sharply since last summer. May 2021 Chicago Board of Trade corn futures prices hit their summer low settlement price last August at $3.46. In early March, May 2021 corn futures were trading near $5.40, an increase of over 50 percent in just…

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