Lean hog futures experienced a strong rally on Wednesday, closing up between $1.00 and $1.45. The USDA reported a national base hog price of $80.29, an increase of $10.29 from the previous day. The CME Lean Hog Index showed a slight decrease of 10 cents, settling at $80.50 on January 12.
Additionally, the USDA’s pork carcass cutout value decreased by 51 cents to $91.29 per cwt, with only the picnic and ham primals showing gains. The estimated federally inspected hog slaughter for Wednesday was 495,000 head, bringing the weekly total to 1.481 million, which matches last week and exceeds the same week last year by 38,698 head. Notable futures prices included February 26 Hogs at $85.700 (up $1.075), April 26 Hogs at $92.700 (up $1.450), and May 26 Hogs at $96.575 (up $1.150).
