Pork Passes Beef for First Time in 63 Years

Beef may be king in Texas but for the first time since 1952 pork production in the U.S. has passed beef.
Texas cattlemen are still feeling the pain from the droughts of 2011 and 2012, as well as the high price of feed.  Those factors have pushed beef to record high prices due to low production and small herds.  Beef production for 2015 is expected to hit a 22-year low.Pork production was decimated in 2014 following the deaths of millions of piglets due to porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.  But, since pigs have litters or 6 to 8 piglets with only a 120 day gestation period, farmers were able to rebuild their numbers quickly.  Compare that to cattle that only have one calf with a gestation period of nine months, it will still take some time for ranchers to rebuild their herds...more