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Hog farmers still dealing with massive losses
Posted: 11.03.2009 at 11:23 AM
Melissa Shriver

Melissa Shriver is a News Anchor and Reporter for KHQA.

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Pork Producers are still dealing with low hog prices, despite news that China has dropped the ban on U.S. pork.

You'll recall hog prices are down about 44% from their peak last year.  That's when live sows were selling for about 50 cents a pound.

But after some countries overseas like China misunderstood how the H-1-N-1 was spread and cut off their imports, there's been an oversupply of pork in the market.

That's led to prices of 35 cents a pound or less.

Adams County Hog Farmer David Dedert says even though China has reopened to U.S. pork exports, there aren't any orders for pork.  That means prices aren't any better than before.

Those low prices combined with the soaring prices for feed, have farmers basically paying processors to take their hogs. In some cases they're going bankrupt because of the huge losses.

Dedert said, "We're losing $20 to $40 a head right now. We've been losing money the last 22 months, so its just a bad scenario all the way around.

Dedert says he doesn't expect prices to rebound until next summer or later.

That's putting some pork producers in a tight spot.

By the way, Mike Roegge with the University of Illinois Extension office reiterates you can *cannot* get the H1N1 virus from pork.

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