Hog prices drop

After seeing what many industry experts deemed earlier this year as some of the highest U.S. hog prices since 2014, prices have dropped after China reported more than 98 percent of its herds are back to its pre-swine flu level.

The African swine fever, which struck in 2018, prompted China to destroy some 40 percent of its hogs, the Wall Street Journal reported.

China had been importing large numbers of hogs from the United States, and it was one of the leading exporters of hogs from Iowa in 2019, according to the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

As a result of China’s announcement, futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange began falling in June, Reuters said.

Kevin Grier of Kevin Grier Market Analysis and Consulting said, “This U.S. market has been through the roof” when speaking earlier this month about 2021 prices, according to Farm Journal’s Pork website.