Statistics Canada released their quarterly hog inventory numbers this week. They said the Canadian sow herd was 0.5 percent smaller on Oct. 1 than on July 1 and 3.7 percent smaller than on October 1, 2009. The Canadian sow herd is the smallest since July 1, 1999. The number of litters farrowed in Canada during the third quarter was down 4.5 percent compared to July-Sept. 2009. They are forecasting fourth quarter 2010 farrowings to be 3.7 percent smaller than a year earlier and first quarter 2011 farrowings to be off by 4.6 percent. The Canadian pig crop is roughly 25 percent of the size of the U.S. pig crop.

The amount of pork in cold storage at the end of September was up 9.6 percent compared to the month before but down 19.5 percent compared to September 30, 2009. Stocks increased by 37.2 million pounds during September which was 14.4 million pounds more than is typical for that month. Cutout values were still quite high during September, so it is a bit surprising to see an above average amount of pork going into frozen stocks.

USDA’s Thursday afternoon calculated pork cutout value was $73.75 per cwt., down $3.01 from the previous Thursday. Loins, butts, hams and bellies were all lower. The pork cutout is ending October $12 per cwt. lower than it started the month.

Hog prices also were lower this week. The national weighted average carcass price for negotiated hogs Friday morning was $58.06 per cwt., down $4.41 per cwt. from the previous Friday. Regional average prices on Friday morning were: eastern corn belt $58.21, western Corn Belt and Iowa-Minnesota both $57.91 per cwt. The top live hog price Friday at Sioux Falls was $45.50 per cwt. The top at Zumbrota was $4 and Peoria’s top was $41 per cwt. The interior Missouri live top Friday was $44.50 per cwt., down 75 cents from last Friday.

Given current feed costs, this week’s hog prices were too low to cover the average producer’s cost of production. The futures market implies red ink for the rest of 2010.

Hog slaughter totaled 2.311 million head this week, down 1.5 percent from the week before but up 0.7 percent compared to the same week last year. This week and last week are the only weeks so far this year with slaughter above 2.3 million hogs.

The average carcass weight of barrows and gilts slaughtered the week ending October 16 was 203 pounds, up 1 pound from the week before and 3 pounds heavier than a year ago. Iowa-Minnesota live weights for barrows and gilts last week was record high for the second week in a row averaging 275.3 pounds, up 5.4 pounds compared to a year earlier.

The December lean hog futures contract ended the week at $66.28 percent cwt., down $4.37 from the previous Friday. The February contract ended the week at $71.92 per cwt. and April settled at $75.95. December corn futures ended the week at $5.82 per bushel, up 22 cents from the previous Friday. Both the May and July corn contracts ended the week above $6 bushel.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Ron Plain may write to him in care of this publication.