FACTORS AFFECTING THE PRICE OF HOGS 
25 
During 1924 and 1925, however, this factor had a striking influence 
upon the prices of different weight hogs; for the last week in 1925 
lightweight hogs at Chicago sold 41 cents above heavy hogs, and 
for the last week of 1924, 99 cents below heavy hogs. 
EFFECT OF WEATHER CONDITIONS ON HOG SUPPLIES 
Weather conditions form a relatively minor factor, but they must 
be taken into account in enumerating causes of changes in hog 
receipts. Unusually low temperatures in the early spring months, 
especially when accompanied by frequent sudden changes in tem- 
perature and a large number of cloudy or rainy days, tend to result 
in heavy losses of pigs at farrowing time. This is particularly true 
on farms poorly equipped for caring for the young pigs, but even on 
PRICES FOR HOGS OF DIFFERENT WEIGHTS 
DOLLARS 
PER CWT. 
- 
— 
— Aver 
— Ligh 
— Heav 
ugs 
tHogs 
y Hogs 
<->l 
fit Hogs 
r 
- 
- 
\ 
Heavy f 
fogs \ 
\ 
V 
K / 
W 
- 
sAverag 
e Ij 
7 
\ t 
- 
/ 
- 
ulukluWuUU 
jMiWjuIu 
-uiuUu 
jxUuiuj 
AulAu 
iilnliilii 
nlullilil 
lllllllllll 
Juiuk 
1904- 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 
A.J. O.J. A J. O. J A J. O. 
1913 1914- 1915 
Fig. 20.— Prices for light, average, and heavy weight hogs at Chicago, 1904 to 1915, with seasonal 
variations eliminated. There is some tendency for the prices of different weights to change at 
different phases of the hog "cycle," but the difference is not very great. The data are 12-month 
moving averages 
the best-equipped farms such conditions are almost sure to result in 
some loss. 
Differences in the size of the pig crop resulting from these varia- 
tions in weather conditions are responsible for about one-sixth of 
the variation in market receipts of hogs. To some extent this 
obscures the effect of economic changes upon hog production. The 
effect upon subsequent production is so dominant, however, that 
these purely random changes caused by weather conditions can not 
prevent the results of price changes from showing up fairly clearly 
even in "raw" data. 
FACTORS INDICATING SUBSEQUENT CHANGES IN HOG PRICES 
During the period 1904 to 1914 hog prices had a steady upward 
trend as shown in Figure 21. This was due to the influence of the 
decreasing value of money, combined with the fact that demand was 
increasing faster than supply. It is evident from the figure that the 
general tendency of the price was to swing first above the trend and 
then below, each complete swing taking about three to four years. 
2470°— 26t 4 
