Daily Newsletters
Account
Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Pork industry rebounding from rough 2023
Even as the industry can produce the same amount of pork with fewer workers, college students are still leaning into careers in swine
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – The pork industry is in the midst of a rebound from its least profitable year in a generation, according to an Iowa State University Extension swine specialist.
Matt Romoser is a field specialist in swine for ISU Extension and Outreach covering Southeast Iowa. He said 2023 was a very rough year for pork producers, and that it was the worst year from a profitability standpoint since 1998.
“I think we’re in the process of recouping those losses,” Romoser said. “Pork prices are comparable today to what they were a year ago.”
Romoser said hogs are being sold for about $70-80 per hundred weight. He said the price of feed, from things like corn and soybeans, has softened, partly because their yields have been so good that the high supply has kept the price down.
The number of people who work in the pork industry is staying steady, too. Romoser said that as the industry has become more efficient, it doesn’t need as many people to operate a hog barn.
“The industry has continued to consolidate, and fewer producers can produce the same amount of pork,” he said, adding that advances in technology are allowing sows to be more productive than they were decades ago. “Our number of breeding sows is the lowest number since the 1960s. Back then, sows lived outside and farrowed a litter of pigs during cold weather, when they’d lose some pigs. Now we have climate-controlled facilities and people attend to those sows around the clock to care for pigs on day 1.”
Romoser said sows today can have 16-17 piglets per litter, compared to six or seven per litter 60 years ago.
Through his work with Iowa State University’s Iowa Pork Industry Center, Romoser educates youth about careers in pork. A few weeks ago, he met with a group of high school ag students to talk about the basics of swine nutrition, such as what goes into a pig’s ration.
On campus in Ames, the Iowa Pork Industry Center has a program for college kids who want to pursue a career in pork but who didn’t come from a farming background. Students in that program get to visit farms, packing plants, and meet with industry professionals to see what the pork industry is all about.
Animal science has remained a popular field of study at ISU, with about 1,000 students majoring in it. Romoser said that about 8-9 percent of animal science majors declare swine as their primary focus, but even more than that end up working in the industry, with about 20-25 percent finding a career related to swine after graduation.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
