Pork Producers Reluctant to Expand, Says Industry Financial Specialist

Steve Malakowsky, vice president of swine lending for Compeer Financial, shared takeaways from his recent travels to hog industry tradeshows with Pork Business. He noted two main themes.

First, a continued focus on process improvement from pork producers. According to Malakowsky, producers are looking for more innovations like improvements to feeding systems.

Second, he highlighted a reluctance to expand operations. Malakowsky cited several factors causing producers to treat expansion cautiously, including modest profits in 2022, increasing production and construction costs, and lower hog population numbers indicating free space in existing facilities.

Malakowsky believes producers will likely hold off on new finish barns for the time being but will likely update existing facilities only as needed. These updates will be less fueled by a desire to expand than to maintain operations.