USDA released its first quarterly Hogs and Pigs report for the year today. At 72.86 million head, the total inventory as of 1 March was slightly above last year’s 72.69 million head. 

The report was generally in line with pre-report expectations, except there were a few more market ready hogs than expected, a slightly bearish situation. But looking forward, farrowings for the first two quarters of this year were below the consensus forecasts, a bullish situation. Hog prices started to slide in mid-March, which could affect actual farrowings versus the reported intentions.  

Every report last year showed most categories down from 2021; this report which shows a steady course of status-quo was a bit of a turn-around...