Strong Live Hogs Prices Defy Normal Seasonal Trends

CANADA - Farm-Scape: Episode 1606. Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork.
calendar icon 22 September 2004
clock icon 3 minute read

Farm-Scape, Episode 1606

Manitoba's pork marketing coop is crediting an unusual combination of factors for a record demand for pork and subsequent unseasonally strong live hog prices.

Manitoba Pork Marketing CEO Perry Mohr says a very unique situation has developed this year where record hog numbers are being met by record demand and the packers are moving aggressively to meet that demand.

"We are slaughtering, in the US right now, about 2.1 million animals weekly and over the course of the next few weeks we'll probably get close to that 2.2 million.

Very seldom do you see a significant market rally after the labor day long weekend and this year we have and are seeing a significant market rally.

This of course is being stimulated by several things but the most important thing is that we're seeing people eat meat like they never have before.

Demand for pork and for beef is quite phenomenal right now. Of course pork is benefiting from the fact that the Canadian cattle producers can't ship into the US. Pork is also benefiting from avian flu and pork is also benefiting from the Atkins Diet.

We are seeing that people are switching from medium and high carb diets to low carb diets as a diet trend and the pork producers are benefiting from it.

Right now we are seeing prices that are considerably higher than they normally are at this time of year and we have basically, since early spring, seen prices that have defied what we would consider normal prices given the number of hogs that are around."

Mohr says pork producers are hoping the demand is sustainable because, if it isn't sustainable, there could be a dramatic correction in the market.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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