Pork Exec
Corn Ethanol Doesn’t Bring Home the Bacon
Just like the 1897 report of Mark Twain’s death, stories of a bacon shortage in the year ahead are an exaggeration. What isn’t, however, is that consumers will likely pay more for pork next year because of projected lower hog supplies, a condition driven by this year’s severe drought and U.S. energy policy.
FULL STORY »
Environmental Laws and Regulations Threaten Profits
Livestock producers have been under substantial economic pressure in recent years. Market conditions have led to increased consolidation. Those who remain open for business, especially small and medium-sized operations, face additional uncertainty from public policy threats coming from Washington, D.C.
FULL STORY »
Feed Costs, Supplies Pressure Global Markets
It is no surprise that the prospects for the global pork industry have taken a downturn due to rapidly rising feed costs. Pork producers’ hedge positions, ability to source feed and liquidity will be differentiating factors moving forward.
FULL STORY »
Sow Housing: Producers Doing What’s Right, Not Popular
Italian physicist Galileo Galilei was condemned by the Catholic Church in 1616 for proffering the theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. Nearly all of humanity at the time believed it was the other way around.
FULL STORY »
Avoiding Financing Traps for the Unwary
As agricultural financing needs become ever more complex, an increasing number of livestock producers are relying on secured credit to fund their operations.
FULL STORY »
Can Corn Keep Up?
As pork producers around the world keep a close eye on corn markets and watch as the price per bushel continues to trend up, they ask, will this trend continue indefinitely? While the industry has evaluated grain demand factors repeatedly, a deep examination of supply factors has been somewhat absent. To discuss the grain-price trend, we need to examine both sides.
FULL STORY »
Welcome to the Great Hen-cage Debate
The great hen-cage debate of 2012 kicked off in earnest on Jan. 23 with Rep. Kurt Shrader introducing a bill that writes into federal law an agreement between the United Egg Producers and the Humane Society of the United States that nearly doubles the cage size for laying hens.
FULL STORY »
GIPSA Final Rule Emerges with Limited Provisions
When last seen at the end of 2010, the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration’s proposed rules to implement controversial changes in livestock markets had disappeared into the USDA for consideration of more than 64,000 public comments.
FULL STORY »
Broaden Your Approach to Risk Management
Futures prices for lean hogs, corn and soy indicate ongoing profitability into 2012 for the average unhedged pork producer.
FULL STORY »
What’s on Tap for 2012?
Since 2012 is a presidential election year, don’t look for much to get done in Washington. (Yes, it’s likely that Congress will accomplish even less this year than it did last.)
FULL STORY »
What You Need to Know about Lien Priorities
In the world of agricultural commodities (including livestock and grain), as uncomfortable as it may be, volatility is becoming a way of life. That volatility can wreak havoc on participants in the pork production chain if they find themselves on the wrong side of price movements. Increased input costs result in increased finished pig costs or squeezed margins or both.
FULL STORY »
