Pork production increased marginally in April while prices for hogs, finishing animals and wholesale pork all rose, pointing to strong consumer demand against a backdrop of tight slaughter-ready supplies, according to the USDA's May livestock, dairy and poultry outlook.
Federally inspected pork production in April was 2.3 billion pounds, up fractionally from a year ago, with higher dressed weights more than offsetting a 0.5% decline in slaughter numbers to 10.7 million head. The average price of live-equivalent producer-owned hogs in April was $67.03, up 3.6% from April 2025.
The wholesale pork carcass cutout reached $98.06 per hundredweight in April, up 3.7% from a year earlier. Most of the April strength came from butt and rib primals, likely in preparation for the grilling season.
Relatively lower hog numbers were attributed to higher winter disease incidence and declining breeding inventory, as indicated in the March USDA Hogs and Pigs report. Strong flows of finishing animals from Canada have helped supplement domestic supplies in response to higher US hog prices.
Since the start of 2026, shipments of early weaned pigs are up more than 18% compared with the same period last year, with prices of these animals up more than 29%. Feeder pig imports through the second week of May increased about 16% from the same period of 2025, with average prices up almost 21%. About half of early weaned pigs and 40-pound feeder pigs are of Canadian origin through early May, the USDA said.
For the second quarter of 2026, commercial pork production is projected at 6.8 billion pounds, up 1% from the same period of 2025. Second-quarter prices of live-equivalent national producer-sold hogs are forecast to average $71 per hundredweight, up 1.9% from a year ago.
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