The National Pork Producers Council recently released its second-quarter economic update. Holly Cook, staff economist with the NPPC, said these quarterly reports provide an up-to-the-minute picture of the industry?s health.
?The quarterly update provides a snapshot of current trends and market conditions using the latest data and explaining what it means for pork producers,? Cook said. ?And this information can be a resource for stakeholders throughout the industry, but it’s also important for congressional leaders and other outside audiences to understand the issues impacting the pork industry. We look at pork production levels, retail price spreads, exports, labor market trends, and examine the factors that could impact producer margins for the remainder of the year.?
Cook explained what the latest hog numbers showed as producers look ahead.
?The latest hogs and pigs report was released at the end of March and showed that breeding and market hog inventories were up just slightly from a year ago and were lower than they were in December of 2022,? Cook said. ?Digging a little bit deeper into that report, the heaviest category of market hogs weighing 180 pounds, or more, was about 2.1 percent larger than last year, which would support the greater pork production and hog slaughter numbers that we’ve seen for March and early April. But the report also showed slightly smaller numbers for lighter weight market hogs, implying that we will likely not see significant growth in production for Q2 and Q3.?
The labor market data tells congressional leaders about the challenges pork producers and all agricultural producers are facing.
?Labor issues and worker shortages are something that we’ve been talking about in the pork industry for many years,? Cook said. ?And in this report, we go beyond just national indicators to show just how tight the labor market can be in rural areas. This report highlights the very low unemployment rates that we see in top-producing states, as well as changes in rural county populations that help show why hiring and retaining workers can be even more difficult on hog farms. And that is important to convey to congressional leaders as we continue to advocate for a solution to this issue.?
For more information or to read the full report, visit nppc.org.
