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Hog market could be sitting on shifting sands
A University of Missouri ag economist says building pork supply and demand pressures could cause problems for the hog market.
Scott Brown said producers need to be watching shifting demand as consumers’ budgets adjust.
“Are we going to face a recession, how are consumers going to respond to food inflation – overall inflation,” he said. “To me, those are the big issues. None of them [are], probably, positive for us in terms of the outlook, but the ones that – I think – we have to keep watching.”
Brown said market volatility has kept U.S. pork production from increasing over the last couple years. But he tells Brownfield a strong market so far this year could incentive swine herd growth.
“If that changes and we talk about a big [herd] expansion, all bets are off in terms of lower hog prices as we look ahead.”
Brownfield interviewed Brown last week at the Missouri Pork Association’s Swine Health Symposium.
