Bacon lovers can pig out for less as prices fall

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Bacon lovers can pig out for less as prices fall

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Bacon lovers, rejoice! Lower prices for your favorite cured pig product are on the horizon.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its recent quarterly hogs and pigs report that it expects hog prices in 2015 to be 18% below those in 2014 because the effects of an epidemic of porcine diarrhea have abated, increasing inventory. December hog inventory rose 2% from a year earlier, the first year-over-year increase since March 2013, according to the USDA.

A more recent report from the USDA showed pork-belly prices were trending 0.3% lower at $107.36 per 100 pounds on Monday, below the five-day average of $109.34. Pork bellies are the cut from which bacon is made.

Lean hogs futures for April delivery LHJ5, +3.61% the most actively traded contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, fell 0.9% to 72 cents a pound Tuesday. The contract for lean hogs in February LHG5, +2.88% was down 1.8% at just under 70 cents a pound.

The most actively traded contract for lean hogs topped out at $1.33 a pound back in March 2014, and only started to appreciably drop in late July.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Ah! The smell happy mornings are made of....

[GandD 5,966]

You know what this means? Bacon house!

[Teddy B 17,252]

I picked the wrong time to go on a diet!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Leftover Christmas hams are going for 99 cents a pound. Bacon is still around seven dollars a pound.

[decocker 7,198]

Leftover Christmas hams are going for 99 cents a pound. Bacon is still around seven dollars a pound.

pay about five bucks for a pack of bacon here in ol virginny.

[Operator 1,927]

Val it looks like Boehner wants some of your ol virginny bacon....

[decocker 7,198]

Val it looks like Boehner wants some of your ol virginny bacon....

oh you know it.