Places are where hogs are produced. Time is flow of hogs to market. Both are important for projecting harvest numbers, gauging currentness of hog supplies and identifying regional supply and demand differences. A quarterback trying to complete a pass needs to consider a receiver’s location (place) and speed (time) to anticipate where the receiver will be. Similarly, pork producers can use place and time information to guide production and marketing decisions.
The place aspect of hog market reporting involves collecting and disseminating data based on specific geographic locations to reflect regional market differences. The U.S. Department of Agriculture publishes reports that include data for individual states and major hog producing regions.
The time aspect of hog market reporting involves publishing data daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually to track market fluctuations, cycles and trends over time. USDA reports can vary widely in their time focus. Some provide historical data. Others offer future projections. Many provide both history and forecasts for comprehensive analysis.
Forecasts on where hogs are and when they’ll go to market
The quarterly Hog Inventory survey provides the primary data USDA’s Agricultural Statistics Board uses to develop each Hogs and Pigs report that is published by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. The target population of the survey is all U.S. farms that own at least one hog or pig on the survey’s reference date. For the latest Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report that date was Dec. 1, 2025. USDA samples large operations more heavily than small operations. Hog operations that own hogs in more than one state report inventories by state. USDA allocates the hogs to the proper state when publishing reports.
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