Growing US hog herd, flat China demand send pork prices sliding

Chicago

FOR decades, Chuck Souder relied on corn and soya beans to keep his 161-hectare Iowa farm running, but with corn selling for half its price two years ago and soya beans slumping, Mr Souder has shifted to what he hopes will be a more profitable crop: pigs.

Mr Souder spent US$850,000 last year to build a wean-to-finish barn, which can house nearly 2,500 animals at a time. He is not alone. Since 2013, Iowa farmers have filed nearly 700 construction applications for new or expanded hog buildings, a six-fold increase from five years earlier, records show. Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois and other states are seeing a similar surge, said state agriculture officials.