Hogs Close Mixed Thursday, as July Remains Weak

Lean hog futures posted Thursday losses of a dime to $1.15 in the front months, with other contracts steady to 37 cents higher. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $95.29 by USDA on Thursday afternoon, down 27 cents from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was back up 38 cents on June 23 at $91.85 

USDA’s Hogs and Pigs showed June 1 hog inventory down 0.04% from last year at 73.664 million head. Hogs kept for breeding were down 1.16% at 5.88 million head, with market hog inventory up just 0.05% to 67.784 million head, vs. trade estimates of 1.1%. The March-May pig crop was up 0.2% to 33.521 million head. Farrowings in that period were down 1.02%. Farrowing intentions for the June-August period are seen at 2.9 million head, down 2.19% from last year.

Export Sales data from USDA showed pork sales for 2026 at 26,229 MT for the week ending on 6/18, a 3-week high. Shipments were tallied at 32,007 MT, back up from last week’s calendar year low.

Pork stocks as of May 31 were tallied at 451.92 million lbs according to Cold Storage data, which was up 0.2% from the end of April and 0.26% larger yr/yr.

USDA’s pork carcass cutout value was up $1.35 in the Thursday PM report at $99.22. The picnic and rib were the only primals reported lower. USDA estimated federally inspected hog slaughter for Thursday at 479,000 head, taking the weekly total to 1.887 million head. That was up 11,000 head from last week and 13,375 head above the same week last year.

Jul 26 Hogs  closed at $92.700, down $1.150,

Aug 26 Hogs  closed at $96.600, down $0.100

Oct 26 Hogs  closed at $80.950, up $0.050,