Pork production in the United States has been at record levels for the 4th quarter of 2016, but pork producers have ramped up their promotional efforts in response. National Pork Board President Jan Archer says they anticipated record weekly slaughter of over 2.5 million head and put extra budget and energy into pushing domestic consumer demand.

Archer says they also pumped up their promotion of pork in the export market with both existing customers and emerging markets.

She says the response has been positive with a net increase in October and November pork exports over the same time frame in 2015. And she says that is with the headwind of 14 year highs in the U.S. dollar.

Archer says they are optimistic about 2017 with hog supplies projected do decrease and several processing plants coming on line to provide additional processing capacity.