USDA’s latest survey of the U.S. swine herd said the market herd was down 1.9% on June 1 and
the breeding herd was down 2.7% compared to 12 months earlier. The total inventory of hogs
was down 2.0%. The breeding inventory was smaller and the market hog inventory was a bit
larger than the average of trade forecasts. Hog slaughter will be down 3-4% this year and hopefully even more in 2010. Unfortunately, there is no end in sight to the string of financial losses plaguing producers.