How pork production has evolved over the last 25 years

Dec 05, 2023

The following dynamic graph shows us how pork production (in millions of tons) has evolved over the last 25 years as well as the rankings by country and how these have been changing.

We observed sustained growth in China until the appearance of African swine fever in 2018 and how, after a spectacular drop, pork production has been recovering.

Regarding the ranking of the top-producing countries, we see there has been no movement for the first four places in the last 25 years if we consider the EU as a whole. We observe how Russia and Vietnam were climbing positions against Canada.

This changes when we break the EU into countries (Figure 2), where Spain made a breakthrough in 2020, becoming the main EU producer, ousting Germany, which lost 20 years of hegemony, becoming the third world producer after China and the United States, until last year when it was overtaken by Brazil.

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Video: What Does 20 MILLION Hogs a Year Look Like?

?? The Multi-Plant System Processing 20 Million Hogs Annually in the Midwest JBS USA operates multiple large-scale pork processing facilities across the Midwest, including major plants in Iowa, Minnesota, and Indiana. Combined, these facilities have the capacity to process approximately 20 million hogs annually.

Each plant operates high-speed automated slaughter systems capable of processing up to 20,000 head per day, followed by fabrication lines that break carcasses into primals, sub-primals, and case-ready retail products.

Hog procurement is coordinated through electronic marketing platforms that connect regional contract finishing operations and independent producers to plant demand schedules. This digital procurement system allows for steady supply flow and scheduling efficiency across multiple facilities.

Processing plants incorporate comprehensive food safety systems, including pathogen intervention technologies, rapid chilling processes, and integrated cold-chain management. USDA inspection is embedded throughout the harvest and fabrication stages to ensure regulatory compliance and product integrity. Finished pork products — from bulk primals to retail-ready packaged cuts — are distributed through coordinated logistics networks serving domestic and export markets.