Minor Decline in U.S. Hog Counts Reported

Mar 28, 2025
By Farms.com

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.

Video: Season 7, Episode 1: Managing Risk and Seeing Opportunities in U.S. Pork Production

Today’s episode features three guests discussing the similarities and differences between pork production in the United States and Brazil, along with strategies for managing risk in today’s industry while recognizing and acting on opportunities. First, Dr. Anne Caroline de Lara, executive manager of live pig production at Seara Alimentos, a JBS company in Brazil, is joined by Dr. Matthew Turner, head of operations for JBS Live Pork. Together, they discuss how labor, climate and ventilation challenges vary between Brazil and the United States, while underscoring their shared commitment to raising healthy pigs. They also point to lessons producers in both countries can take from one another’s systems and on-farm experiences. Then, Brady Reicks, risk manager at Reicks View Farms, shares his perspective on risk management, drawing from his background in markets and his transition into farming. He discusses how protecting margins varies by operation and offers practical approaches producers can use to make marketing and business decisions with greater confidence rather than hesitation.

Both conversations were recorded at recent industry events focused on swine livability, including the International Conference on Pig Livability and Iowa Swine Day.