Slightly better live pig availability coupled with reductions in consumer spending seems to be conspiring to push prices down at a time when they need to rise and although most pigs found homes, generally they were worth slightly less than a week ago.

There were no winners in the Shout Price Stakes this week, only losers and the results board reads as follows:

1st Woodheads 152.0p
2nd Tulip 151.0p
3rd Vion 149.0p
Last Cranswick 148.5p

Spot bacon was generally traded in the 148p region with some of the warmer-hearted abattoirs prepared to pay a penny or two more with their stone-hearted counterparts at less than this.

Sow demand is however continuing to improve now that there are three mainstay buyers in the market (rather than two) and reports of a fourth to join the fray in a couple of months time should also help to improve demand across the board, although this will ultimately still be dictated by the European market and the value of the euro.

Most sows were traded within the 100p–104p range according to specification where in net terms sometimes "less is more".

Now that harvest is underway between showers, reports of very slight reductions in cereal prices are starting to filter through but nothing to get excited over and the ex-farm instant collected wheat price is still relatively high at 3168/tonne, but futures quotes for November which is trading at 3162/tonne are showing an easier trend.

Looking ahead to July 2012 however, futures prices are still painting a fairly expensive picture with 3171/tonne quoted by HGCA.

Weaner prices are continuing to bear the brunt of concerns over the outlook for finished pigs in the autumn and expensive feed in the system with the result that the latest Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board 30kg ex-farm weaner average has eased back to 345.61/head in what remains very much a buyers' market.