40 years of lean hog futures. That’s the CME celebration this month. They’ve been hedging a lot of hogs for producers over the years.

An important indicator of grocery store prices for items such as pork chops, ribs and pork loin, annual contract volume has grown from just over 8,000 contracts since its launch in 1966 to more than two million contracts in 2005. The CME lean hog contract has evolved since its inception from a contract of physically delivered live hogs into a cash settlement-only contract of lean hog carcasses, which makes this a more viable hedging tool for international producers and pork importers and/or exporters.