June hogs are around $79 so it is a little tough to get excited about summer hog prices when they are only $4.00 higher than February.

We chewed through record numbers of hogs and moved cash higher at the same time, a fact that should not be ignored. When you can move a market higher with larger supplies at a time of year when prices usually move lower, that is very positive.

The saying “never stand in front of a fast moving train” comes to mind. Until the market shows otherwise, I would look for hog prices to push higher from these levels, as we move into lower hog slaughter numbers. On a short term, however I think that cash hogs will back up over the next two weeks.

Pork Cutouts

Cutout values dropped $4.00 in one day. Maybe this is “buy the rumor, sell the news” situation.

A couple of weeks ago, the headline read “We are running out of Bacon.” As I write this, bellies are down over $24 in one day. A 15 per cent drop in one day has also got to be a record (or darn close).

The latest article about bacon reads “Price plunge marks end of bacon boom!”

If I understand this correct, two weeks ago we were running out of bacon and today no one wants to eat it anymore. I think the term “fake news” has entered into the hog industry.

Everyone loves bacon and pork in general. Markets might turn lower short term, as I stated. But as we head into summer, I believe we will continue an overall higher price.