Lean hog futures experienced midweek losses on February 26, with declines ranging from $1 to $1.67 across most contracts. The USDA reported the national base hog price at $86.28, up $1.46 from the previous day. Meanwhile, the CME Lean Hog Index increased by 42 cents to $84.43.
USDA’s pork carcass cutout value fell by 64 cents to $95.05 per hundredweight. The estimated federally inspected hog slaughter for Wednesday was 493,000 head, marking a weekly total of 1.391 million head—5,000 head lower than last week and 55,922 head below the same week last year. Key futures data includes February hogs closing at $87.950, April at $95.150, and May at $98.850, all reflecting losses.
