The Dec 1 Hogs and Pigs Report was released on December 23, 2020 which placed the total inventory for all hogs and pigs at 77.5 million head, down just under 1%. Hogs kept for breeding declined 3.0% to just under 6.3 million head and market hogs dropped to just over 71.2 million head, down less than 1%. USDA-NASS made extensive revisions to prior quarters, which is largely reflective of the challenges due to pandemic related disruptions in 2020.

Dairy production data was released for November by USDA-NASS this week. Butter churners continued at high volumes, up 4% for the month compared to the prior year, and extending already very large year-to-date volumes to 18% higher than 2019. American style cheese makers produced similar volumes compared to a year ago, up 4% in November.

The first week in 2021 is witnessing the nearby corn futures prices closing in on $5.00 per bushel.  The last time corn prices were this high was May 2014.  Corn prices at the farm, as reported by USDA-NASS during the 2013-2014 crop year ending on August 31, 2014 averaged $4.46 per bushel.  Nearby corn futures finished August 2014 at $3.59, a $1.50 decline in about three months.  A record large corn crop of 14.2 billion bushels was about to be harvested, followed by 1.9 billion bushels of the crop being marketed in export markets and 6.6 billion bushels being used domestically for food, in