The U.S. pork production sector continues to consolidate rapidly. In the decade between 1988-1997 hog operations marketing 50,000 or more hogs a year increased their share of U.S. production from 7 to 37 percent. The share from operations marketing less than 1,000 hogs annually declined from 32 to 5 percent. However, the loss of farms beyond the very smallest category has not been as severe as typically believed. The consolidation is expected to continue as larger operations continue to be earlier adopters of technology and have taken greater steps to secure market access than have smaller farms. Fifty-seven percent of the hogs in 1997 were procured by processors outside the traditional spot market. It is estimated that the 1998 number is approximately 65 percent.