quote:
Originally posted by Smokenque:
I saw something on one of the financial programs I watch that might have something to do with this. I don't follow hogs.. but, essentially the point was that it is getting so expensive to feed hogs that hog farmers/ranchers (?) are getting rid of them very early.. which would result in a glut of pork on the market (or in frozen storage).. after which the price will skyrocket.
Comments???
I have a comment or two.
Selling a market hog 5-10% lighter will put 5-10% less pork on the market. That would force the packers to bid more for them. Trouble is, the packers dock heavily for light hogs, so they have the producer raising them heavy. We can maybe trim a few pounds off though.
When I started raising pigs fulltime 30+ years ago the desired packers weight range was 190-220#.
Today it's 240-290#. Ever wonder why today's pork taste like crap compared to your earlier years? It's older, leaner, drier, and the packer thinks it needs to be pumped full of their solution crap so they can sell water with their pork for $40/gallon.
They like the bigger pigs because they can run more tonnage through their plants at the same chain speed (pigs per hour) and labor force.
There are so many hogs out there in all the new barns you see, that the price is below breakeven. In March we had $35 hogs, which wouldn't be profitable at $2 corn.
I said it in '98 when hogs were bleeding red ink, and I'll say it today: The producer's greed by butchering the goose that laid the golden egg has caused this mess. To much supply, and not enough demand. They ain't the old mortgage lifters anymore.