11.11.2011

pork futures

LAFAYETTE, Minn. — Here in pig country, the pigs are vanishing. Ryan Bode, whose family has raised pigs for decades, said thieves broke into this barn in Lafayette, Minn., by cutting straight down some ventilation netting. This month, 150 pigs — each one weighing more than an average grown man — disappeared from a farm building in Lafayette despite deadbolts on its doors. Farther north  594 snorting, squealing hogs disappeared last month, whisked away in the dark. And in Iowa, with cover from the vast stretches of tall cornfields, pigs have been snatched, 20 or 30 at a time, from as many as eight facilities, said the sheriff, adding that among other challenges, the missing are difficult to single out.
“They all look alike."
  “This is the hot commodity of the moment, like copper a few years ago and gold,” said Ryan Bode, whose family discovered that 150 of its pigs were missing shortly before they were to be taken to market. The loss was $30,000 on top of the “ungodly high” price of corn that he had paid to feed those pigs until they were fat enough to be sold. “And after all that, they’re not here,” he said. Mr. Bode seemed doubtful about seeing his pigs again.
“My guess is that they’re bacon and pork chops already,” he said.

This little piggie went to market.  I'll take an oink on the rocks with a twist of tail.

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