Nebraska Pork Packs Economic Punch

Sales in Nebraska from hog marketing and pork processing last year packed a total economic punch of $978.2 million in personal income, $1.657 billion in value-added, and 17,866 jobs. The figures come from a report released by the National Pork Producers Council highlighting the economic contributions of the pork industry in the U.S. Nationwide the pork industry supported 613,823 jobs and contributed over $28 billion in cash receipts to pig farmers last year. Pork exports were valued at $8 billion, or more than $62 per head for each pig marketed.

Nebraska has approximately 1,230 farms with hogs and an inventory of 3.6 million hogs, accounting for 4.9 percent of the U.S. hog inventory. About 79 percent of Nebraska hogs are located on farms with more than 5,000 head. Hog sales totaled $1.06 billion and expenditures by the industry on feed, labor, equipment, and other production-related goods and services equated to over $648.1 million in 2021. Feed costs alone exceeded $344.4 million, energy and transportation equaled $149.5 million, and employee compensation totaled $73.4 million. More information on the report can be found at: https://nppc.org/the-pork-industry/

Figure 2. Production Costs for Nebraska Pork Production