What's the weather like out there? The answer to that question -- as well as what it means to the corn and soybean crops in the field right now -- will have a huge influence on the hog market moving through the rest of this year and into 2013. So, what's that mean for the average hog farmer? Questions like these were common at the 2012 World Pork Expo held this week in Des Moines, Iowa. Farmers, industry experts and leaders, and company representatives had a lot to see and do at this year's event that took place against a backdrop of a lot of cloudy outlooks regarding feed costs, weather and the prospects for expanding the hog herd in the next few months.

• Read more
• Also: Hog expansion -- where, when & how?
• Special report: Weather, hog growth married?
• PRRS: Nemesis of the pig industry
  

The World Pork Expo's the place to be this week for anyone involved in the hog industry around the globe. Producers, industry experts and hog business company representatives flooded the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, for the annual event that this year includes people from 38 countries.

Let's take a quick stroll around the Expo grounds.

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