Pork Producers are Still Recovering from the Pandemic's Impacts

Pork Producers are still working to recover from the financial pain spurred by the pandemic.

The latest Sterling Profit Tracker shows farrow-to-finish operations are seeing $91 per head profits. It is an improvement of nearly $148 from a year ago, when producers were losing more than $57 per head.

While profits look promising, pork producers are now wading through the challenges of higher feed costs.

Amanda Adam is a pork producer in Washington County, Iowa.

"I do the same thing every day," said Adam as she makes her rounds through the barn. "I always get in the same pen to begin."

The routine, crafted through years of hard work, is so nothing gets missed.

"I've been doing this for about 12 years now and I am more than open to advice from other people," said Adam. "This was a suggestion from the person who looks over our nurseries."

An attention to detail and a consistency that helped her survive one the hardest years ever.

"The first thing that came to my mind was what are we going to do about keeping our employees safe," remembers Adam when COVID-19 started.

While she spent time focusing on employee safety, pork processing plants had their own health challenges. Adam says the issues started in the spring and really didn't get resolved until September. "We also had to utilize secondary markets last year to sell off some of the pigs that maybe were undervalued pigs," said Adam. "There really wasn't a profitable position to be in or a favorable price, but it was still favorable to the alternative."

Prices were not favorable, and Adam says as a business the markets were painful to watch.

"Pork prices really tanked," she remembers. "If there's anything I know about this industry, we've been up and we've been down and we always find a way to get through it."

As producers like Adam trudged through last year, 2021 produced a better start. Now the biggest concerns are around feed costs.

"The margins are still different than they would be if grain prices were back in the $3 or $4 range," said Adam. "I even make sure our feeders are adjusted because the last thing I want to do is have pigs wasting feed."

That said, margins are good enough to focus on at least a few projects including continuing to beef up biosecurity.

"China is still battling African swine fever, and it feels like it's all but fallen off the radar for a lot of people in America," said Adam. "It's still important that we pay attention to those things, because these great prices would be dramatically changed by a foreign animal disease coming in here."

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) knows producers like Adam are still recovering from the pandemic.

"Producers have had some time to heal, but they aren't back to where they were," said Neil Dierks, CEO of NPPC. "Hopefully we can continue this run for a while and if demand stays high, it will give us opportunities. I don't think we're back to ground zero yet, but people are healing."

Adams can feel that recovery as she continues to walk barns every day.

"There are a lot of opportunities in 2021," she says.

We will be uniting together June 7-13 for We will be uniting together June 7-13 for PORK Week across all of our Farm Journal platforms to elevate the important role the pork industry plays in feeding the world. Share your stories and post photos on social media using #PORKWeek21 to help us honor the pork industry. From “AgDay TV” to “AgriTalk” to “U.S. Farm Report” to PorkBusiness.com and everything in between, tune in and join us as we acknowledge the most noble profession there is: feeding people.
 

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