The hog industry has continued to expand with better than expected prices relative to supply the last two years and good margins for packers and producers. Steve Meyer, vice president of pork analysis for Express Markets says even with 4-percent more production, the hog market has been surprisingly strong due to solid demand. He says that’s is translating into profitability in both pork production and processing.

Meyer says with the cost of production at the lowest level in several years that will mean continued expansion in the pork business for the foreseeable future.

He says the market has held up better than expected with summer hogs above 80-dollars. However, those prices are projected to drop dramatically going forward.

Meyer says both domestic demand and exports have been offsetting record slaughter numbers. In fact, pork exports are up 14.6-percent through April.