change in hogs. When I was a youth showing hogs in the 1940s, tops were 185# to 220#. That's the carcatass weights now. During WWII there was a big demand for lard. Now vegetable oils have replaced that and we now have much leaner hogs. This change has come about by packers changing their pricing policy which has encouraged producers to make genetic modifications to the breeding herd. It is more efficient for packers to process a 270# hog than a 185 pounder. One the other hand efficiency of growth goes down as hogs get heavier. Hormones were helping with growth efficiency but their use seems to be fallling out of favor.

It is possible that the heavier carcasses we are seeing now is another move up in carcass weight but my thinking is that it represents hogs being backed up a little. Usually this time of the year carcass weights dip a little.

Best wishes,

dhm