Mark Greenwood
April 2008
Losses Continue
The swine industry is going through a very painful period. To put it in perspective, let’s suppose the average producer is losing $30 a head every day. Let’s also assume an average slaughter of 425,000 head per day, the industry is now losing $12.75 million each day. With at least 22 days of slaughter each month, the industry is losing $280.5 million a month. This has been occurring for at least 3 months and---probably closer to 4 ½ months---resulting in a lost of $841 million for the first 3 months of this year. Some producers have some margin protection, but the point that I am making is that equity is eroding very quickly in the industry.
