Prepared and written by Jeff Swenson, DATCP Livestock and Meat Specialist. The Market Update draws information from several sources, including trade publications, radio broadcasts, agricultural news services, individuals involved in the industry as well as USDA NASS and AMS reports.
The summer rally in the pork market began late and ended early. The base carcass price was mostly steady last week but wholesale prices were lower. The pork cutout value averaged $102.36 last week, making it $1.75 lower and fall below $100 this week. Most of the loss was due to sharply lower ham primal prices. Weekly harvest was estimated to be 2.284 million last week, which was 21,000 more than the previous week and 55,000 fewer than the same week last year. Pork production in June totaled 2.27 billion pounds, a 7% increase over last year; while Hog harvest was 5% higher at 10.5 million pounds. The average live weight was 289 pounds, 3 pounds higher than a year ago. Wisconsin saw a 1% increase in hog harvest during June with the average live weight increasing from 445 pounds to 451 pounds.
