Lean hog futures are down 45 to 65 cents at midday. USDA’s national base hog price was $79.19 in the Friday morning report, up 18 cents from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was down another 27 cents on September 23 at $82.20.
USDA’s Hogs & Pigs report showed September 1 inventory of all hogs down 1.51% from a year ago at 74.302 million head. Market hogs were down 1.55% to 68.427 million head, with breeding inventory numbers down 1.03%. The June to August pig crop was down 1.53% at 34.5 million head. Farrowings during that period dropped 2.66%, with intentions for September to November down 1.79%.
