US pork production forecasts lowered for 2014, 2015

TheUSDA in its July World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates reportlowered its forecasts for 2014 and 2015 U.S. pork production.

The USDA in its July World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report lowered its forecasts for 2014 and 2015 U.S. pork production. The report was released on July 11.

2014 U.S. pork production forecast

The USDA in July projected that 22.76 billion pounds of pork would be produced in 2014, declining from its June projections of 22.82 billion pounds.

The agency lowered its forecast as it has witnessed slower-than-expected expansion in farrowings during the second quarter of 2014. USDA in its report said there are implications of hog slaughter being later in 2014, but strong hog prices and lower feed costs are expected to provide incentives to feed hogs to heavier weights.

2015 U.S. pork production forecast

The July WASDE report calls for 23.24 billion pounds of pork to be produced in 2015. This reflects a decline from the projection of 23.31 billion pounds of pork anticipated when USDA completed its June report.

The USDA said the forecast is lower because supplies of market hogs will remain relatively tight.

Ending stocks steady for 2014 and 2014

Despite lower expectations for U.S. pork production in both 2014 and 2015, USDA did not change its monthly forecasts for ending stocks of pork for either year. Ending stocks for pork in 2014 remained steady at 525 million pounds, while ending stocks for 2015 were also unchanged at 580 million pounds.

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