Checkoff data shows 5 million slaughter hogs being exported from North Carolina in 1997. State veterinarian's data shows 2.1 million weaned pigs and feeder pigs leaving the state last year. Approximately 4.5 million hogs per year are required to supply a plant processing 16,000 head per day. Consequences of inadequate packing capacity may include reduced local prices for market hogs and increased dependence on sales of feeder pigs and weaned pigs. Exact differences are difficult to measure without price data from individual packers across the country over some period of time.
Some examples follow.
Many of the most skilled independent swine farmers in the state have liquidated their herds or switched to contract production. Preliminary data suggest that the cumulative effect of lower prices paid for hogs on the east coast region may have exacerbated losses being incurred by swine producers across the country and contributed to the failure of otherwise sound swine enterprises. Lack of packing capacity and resulting lack of competition in the packing sector can cause lower prices. In my opinion, this situation is directly attributable to policies and political actions taken in North Carolina over the past few years. The long-run viability of many east coast swine farms may depend on added packing capacity.