Federally-inspected hog slaughter facilities processed an estimated 2.321 million head for the week ending October 6, 2007.
In the Daily Livestock Report, Dr. Steve Meyer, Paragon Economics, notes that this is the first time in history that the weekly estimate has exceeded 2.3 million head. The previous record was 2.265 million head the week of December 15, 1998.
Dr. Meyer notes that the U.S. packing sector’s daily capacity has increased from 412,000 head in 1998 to 421,000 head today.