US pigs too fat for holiday hams as prices surge

Chicago

EATING ham has never been more expensive than this year, partly because US pigs are too fat.

Hogs in the US weigh the most ever after farmers fed them longer to make up for losses caused by a virus that killed millions of piglets. While heavier hogs means more pork per animal, their hind legs exceed the size used for producing the 7-pound spiral-cut, half hams that are the most popular for family meals during year-end holidays.

Half of annual ham consumption by Americans occurs at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, and retail prices through September were up 24 per cent this year to a record US$3.389 a pound, the most recent government data shows. The increase was fuelled by the virus, which shrank the domestic herd and reduced the number of hogs slaughtered this year by 5.2 p…