Pig farmers in the United States are continuing to expand their herds due to profitable prices and surging demand, pork industry analyst Steve Meyer said last week at the 2020 Iowa Pork Congress in Des Moines.

But, he warned, there’s a red flag on the horizon toward the end of the year when hog supplies are expected to significantly exceed slaughter capacity. 

The oversupply threatens to push prices down sharply in the fourth quarter, said Meyer, an analyst with Kerns and Associates. He’s forecasting prices of $62 to $66 per hundredweight in the fourth quarter. The CME December lean hog futures contract last week was trading...