Impact of Corn and Soybean Meal Prices on Swine Finishing Feed Cost

The recent volatility in the corn and soybean markets has increased the uncertainty related to expected swine finishing feed cost. Since planting there have been wide swings in corn and soybean meal prices. For example, the December corn futures contract price ranged from $3.50 to $4.50 from early May to early July, and was approximately $3.70 in mid-July. Similarly, the December soybean meal futures contract ranged from $330 to $420 during the same time period, and was approximately $380 in mid-July. This article documents the impact of corn and soybean meal prices on feed cost indices for a swine finishing enterprise. It is important to note that the swine finishing enterprise assumes the finishing of an early-weaned pig. The ration for this enterprise consists of corn, soybean meal, dry distillers’ grain, and supplements. Corn prices represent averages for Indiana as reported by USDA-NASS. Soybean meal and distillers’ grain prices are obtained from Feed Outlook, published monthly by USDA-ERS. Information from Agricultural Prices, a monthly USDA-NASS publication, was used to compute supplement prices. Future prices for corn and soybean meal are used to project feed indices through 2017. Feed cost indices are reported on a closeout month rather than a placement month basis.