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Your intuition is spot-on. Feed conversion efficiency drives profitability in the pork industry. The average live weight of US hogs at market is right around 28

Your intuition is spot-on. Feed conversion efficiency drives profitability in the pork industry. The average live weight of US hogs at market is right around 280 lbs., not because the animals can't get larger than that, but because growing them beyond that size cuts into profits as efficiency drops. I think pigs-as-big-as-polar-bears was just an opening hook to draw in eyeballs that would otherwise have skipped over yet another headline about African Swine Fever (ASF), which is covered in the second half of the article. ASF is the real meat of this story (pun intended, sorry) and the most significant factor currently impacting Asian pork production.

drewmol 7y ago
>The average live weight of US hogs at market is right around 280 lbs., not because the animals can't get larger than that, but because growing them beyond that size cuts For reader reference a full grown sow can weigh 500+ lbs, a full grown hog can weigh 1000+ lbs and live 20+ years (~900M heartbeats). Livestock pigs reach market weight in 6-7 months.
fsagx 7y ago
"Really Big" pigs of the sort in the article are a common sight to anyone attending a county or state fair in many rural parts of the US: https://www.iowastatefair.org/participate/competition/results/big-boar-contest/ https://www.iowastatefair.org/participate/competition/result...