The USDA is forecasting a 1 point 6 per cent increase in pork production this year over last.
According to the University of Missouri's Ron Plain, the department expects U-S pork production to exceed beef production for the second year in a row.
The national negotiated barrow and gilt price last Thursday was $48.99 per hundredweight - up a dollar 22 from the week before.
Plain says U-S hog slaughter last week was almost 2.4 million head.
That's over 17 per cent higher than the week before, at least partly because of the New Years holiday.
American slaughter was up 10 point 6 per cent from the same week last year.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says Canadian hog slaughter to December 26th was up 2 point 6 per cent from the year before.
The ministry says Ontario's weekly price for that week was $160.37 - down just over 17 per cent from the year before.
That was the second lowest drop in the country, behind only Manitoba's 16 point 2 per cent.
