Hog Producers Continue To Deal With 'Depressed' Prices

Jul 14, 2020

Hog producers continue to struggle with market options.

Tyler Fulton is with Hams Marketing Services.

"Still very depressed prices," he said. "The cash market in the United States has struggled to make any gains. We're burdened by huge supplies. The reality is that we're still not totally back up to 100 per cent capacity. Those extra hogs that aren't committed and need to be negotiated on a daily or weekly basis, those values are some of the lowest that we've seen in a decade."

Fulton says the U.S. hog slaughter continues to run at the highest levels that we've seen at this time of year, with the COVID-19 backlog still getting worked through.

He adds forward hog contract prices continue to struggle.

"There is not much opportunity to price hogs. The best weeks left in 2020 are running around that $130 per ckg, or maybe $135 at best...There's not a lot of optimism that anything's really going to change over the course of the next five or six months."

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Video: Winter Canola Trial in Mississippi | Can It Work for Double Cropping? | Pioneer Agronomy

Can winter canola open new opportunities for growers in the Mid-South? In this agronomy update from Noxubee County, Mississippi, Pioneer agronomist Gus Eifling shares an early look at a first-year winter canola trial and what farmers are learning from the field.

Planted in late October on 30-inch rows, the crop is now entering the bloom stage and progressing quickly. In this video, we walk through current field conditions, fertility management, and how timing could make this crop a valuable option for double-cropping soybeans or cotton.

If harvest timing lines up with early May, growers may be able to transition directly into another crop during ideal planting windows. Ongoing field trials will help determine whether canola could become a viable rotational option for the region.

Watch for:

How winter canola is performing in its first season in this Mississippi field

Why growers chose 30-inch rows for this trial

What the crop looks like as it moves from bolting into bloom

Fertility strategy, including nitrogen and sulfur applications

How canola harvest timing could enable double-cropping with soybeans or cotton

Upcoming trials comparing soybeans after canola vs. traditional planting

As more growers look for ways to maximize acres and diversify rotations, experiments like this help determine what new crops might fit into existing systems.