LM_HG201 is USDA's National Daily Direct Prior Day Hog Report, the daily record of what packers paid for the barrows and gilts they bought. Prior day means exactly that: each report covers the previous day's purchases, reported by packers under Livestock Mandatory Reporting.
What the report carries
The report breaks hog purchases out by how the price was set, from head bought on the negotiated spot market to head priced by formula and contract arrangements. That split matters because the negotiated share of the hog market is small: most hogs move on formulas priced off someone else's negotiated trade, so a thin negotiated market sets the reference for a much larger volume.
Net price, carcass basis
The headline number is a weighted average net price on a carcass basis. Carcass basis means the price is per hundredweight of carcass, not of live animal. Net means the price includes the premiums and discounts actually applied to each lot, so it reflects what packers really paid rather than a base quote.
Why a pork buyer reads a hog report
Hogs are the pork packer's dominant cost, so this number is half of the pork margin math and the pork cutout is the other half. Meat Read's pork packer margin uses this report's weighted average net price as its hog cost input. When cash hogs climb while the cutout stalls, packer margins compress and the sales desk has less room to move. When hogs sag under a firm cutout, the packer has margin to work with, and it shows in how product gets offered.