The U.S. hog herd will continue to grow until hog producers lose money and that does not look like that is going to be anytime soon, profoundly states Kevin Bost, president of Procurement Strategies in Des Plaines, Ill. 

A slightly larger hog inventory reported in the Quarterly Hogs & Pigs Report by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service was not shocking to Bost and other analysts — Dan Bluntzer, partner at New Frontier Capital Market, and John Nalivka, president of Sterling Markets — joining him in discussion on the reported numbers hosted by the National Pork Board.

Prior to the report, analysts anticipated the expansion of the U.S. hog herd to continue and the estimated numbers reported by the USDA fell in line with pre-report estimates. Pork production on the per capita basis is estimated to be the highest since 2004. 

Although expansion in the U.S. pork sector is not fresh news, the report does shine a light on a steady growth, matching the new packer capacity. Bost, Bluntzer and Nalivka along with Steve Meyer, Kerns & Associates, discuss the estimated numbers of the quarterly report released March 29 and other implications for the pork production fundamentals. Click through this slideshow for a rundown on the Hogs & Pigs Report numbers and see what it will mean to the hog business this year.