Lean hog futures added to the midday gains on Thursday to close $1.40 to $1.90 higher. USDA’s national base hog price had a weighted average of $110.70 this afternoon, down $2.02 from Wednesday. The CME Lean Hog Index was up a penny at $107.20 on July 15.
USDA’s FOB plant pork cutout value for Thursday morning was $1.58 higher at $116.32 per cwt. The rib was the only primal reported lower. Thursday’s USDA estimated hog slaughter was 473,000 head, taking the weekly total to 1.870 million head. That was 21,000 head below last week and 38,059 head lower than the same week last year.
