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Livestock

Pork Industry Faces Tight Margin Year

Pork producers in 2016 are expected to experience another year of tight margins similar to the year just completed. Pork production is expected to rise by about one percent, but beef production will rise by four percent and poultry by about three percent.

Hog Prices Drop to 6 Year Lows

Live hog prices fell below $40 per hundredweight last week. This means hog prices are at their lowest level since November of 2009 when the U.S. was just beginning to pull off the bottom of the great recession.

Beef: High Prices Cure High Prices

The adage that the cure for high prices is “High Prices” is evident this year in beef markets. Finished cattle prices reached record highs around $170 in late 2014 and early spring of 2015.

Feeding Cost of Gain and Net Returns for Cattle Finishing

Fed cattle prices have declined sharply since early September. This article discusses trends in feeding cost of gain and net returns for cattle finished in Kansas, with emphasis on the extremely large losses currently facing the industry.

Limited Pork Expansion

The pork industry has largely overcome the impacts of the 2014 PED virus. Pork producers have been disciplined in limiting expansion after record 2014 profits.

Lower Pork Costs Also Driven by Lower Meal Costs

Soybean meal is an important but an “economically” secondary feed ingredient in hog diets compared to corn. My estimates suggest that soybean meal costs have been about 22 percent of the total costs of raising hogs over the past decade, compared to 32 percent for corn.

Beef Herd Expanding Quickly, But Will It Continue?

The nation’s beef cow herd has started down the path of the largest expansion in 25 years. The last major expansion was from 1990 to 1995 when the herd grew by ten percent.

Higher Feed Costs Could Mean Pork Industry Losses

Weather damaged corn and soybean fields are also harmful to hog producers. Rising feed prices mean higher costs of production for the pork industry. Recent higher corn and soybean meal prices have increased anticipated hog costs by about $10 per head.

Pork Industry Continues to Adjust from PED

The pork industry continues to adjust from the supply shock created by the PED virus last year. Live prices peaked in the summer of 2014 as PED losses mounted and then fell into the late winter of 2015.

Beef Industry Traveling to a Different Drummer This Year

The beef industry stands alone in 2015 in its continued reduction in supplies available to consumers. The year of 2014 was a special year for the animal production industries with record high farm level prices for cattle, hogs, broilers, turkeys, milk and eggs.

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