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: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.