USDA Unveils Updated Statistics on Hog and Pig Numbers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service has released its latest Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report, showing a slight downturn in the U.S. swine population.
As of the start of March 2025, there were 74.5 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms, reflecting a slight year-over-year decrease and a 1% fall since December 2024.
The breakdown of the numbers shows 68.5 million are market hogs, with the remainder, approximately 5.98 million, being kept for breeding purposes. During the period from December 2024 to February 2025, producers weaned 33.7 million pigs, maintaining an average of 11.65 pigs per litter.
Producers are gearing up for the next farrowing seasons, projecting to farrow 2.91 million sows from March to May 2025 and another 2.96 million from June to August. Iowa leads the pack in hog inventories with 24.3 million, followed by Minnesota's 9.2 million and North Carolina's 8.1 million.
The data for this report was collected from 4,455 hog producers nationwide, employing a mix of online submissions, mail, phone, and in-person interviews, demonstrating the rigorous efforts to accurately assess the state of the U.S. hog industry.