The national average negotiated carcass price for direct delivered hogs on the morning report today was $122.64/cwt which is down $4.56 from last week, but up $30.95 from a year ago. The western corn belt averaged $123.61 this morning. Iowa-Minnesota averaged $123.48/cwt. The eastern corn belt had a morning average of $122.29/cwt. Peoria had a top live price today of $90/cwt. The top price for interior Missouri live hogs was $91.25/cwt which was the same as the previous Friday. This morning's hog carcass price equaled 92.3% of the pork cutout value.
Hog slaughter totaled 1.862 million head this week. That was up 1.6% from the week before, but down 6.4% from the same week last year.
The average live slaughter weight of barrows and gilts in Iowa-Minnesota last week was 284.8 pounds. That was down 0.7 pound from the week before, but a record 13.7 pounds heavier than the same week last year. It was the 10th consecutive week with weights at least 10 pounds heavier than a year ago.
Hog futures were sharply lower this week. The August hog futures contract ended the week at $123.62/cwt, down $3.45 from the previous Friday. October hogs lost $6.28 this week to close at $107.27/cwt. The December contract ended the week at $98.15/cwt down $5.45 for the week. The February lean hog contract settled at $93.57/cwt.
This week's USDA Crop Progress report said that 76% of U.S. corn acres were in good or excellent condition on July 20. That was the same as the week before and 13 points higher than on the same date last year. The September corn futures contract closed at $3.63 per bushel today down 8 cents for the week.
Source: AGEBB