Hog slaughter finished last week at an estimated 2.578 million head, down 0.9 percent from a year ago levels. The slaughter is forecast to trend higher over the next six weeks, projected at 2.65 million head this week and to 2.7 million head on the week ending October 31^st. Over the next six weeks, slaughter is forecast out at an average of 2.671 million head, up 5.4 percent from the prior six week average and down 0.4 percent compared to 2019…