Lard Marketing Margins and Costs

Excerpts from the report Preface: The marketing margin for lard, as described in this report, is the difference between the price a hog slaughterer receives for a unit of lard and the price the consumer pays for the same unit of lard in a retail store. Until about 1930, lard commanded a price per pound equal to or more than many other fresh pork products. Since 1930, lard prices have been decreasing in relation to prices of other hog products. Under present market conditions about 7 percent of the wholesale value of all hog products is for lard, while lard represents 15 percent of the wholesale carcass weight. The marketing margins reported are based largely on average wholesale prices for lard at Chicago reported to the Agricultural Marketing Service, and retail prices for 1-pound cartons of lard sold in retail stores, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.