Pork Production is up 0.7% on an annual average basis, and the industry is in a period of accelerating growth. The monthly and quarterly data are both rising strongly above year-ago levels, up 12.0% and 7.1% year-over-year, respectively. These gains show that the growth trend has some distinct positive momentum behind it. The annual data trend turned up in December 2014 and has risen 1.8% since then.

A typical rising trend in annual average production runs a little over two years, although historically, there has been substantial variability in the duration of past trends. The annual trend frequently fluctuates for a few months at a time but the sharp rise in the monthly and quarterly data suggests that this trend has some staying power and will support the cyclical growth going forward.

Domestic demand is up, as measured by annual average Personal Consumption Expenditures on Pork, up 2.4% at $30.7 billion annually. The growth rate slowed down recently, but is still comparable to Beef and Poultry. Rising demand will help support the ongoing recovery in the cyclical status of the pork industry.