U.S. Hog Inventory Report for March 2025

Mar 31, 2025
By Farms.com

U.S. Hog Numbers Decline Slightly in 2025

As of March 1, the U.S. had 74.5 million hogs and pigs on farms, reflecting a slight decrease compared to March 2024 and a 1% drop from December 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report.

Key highlights from the report include:

Out of the 74.5 million hogs, 68.5 million were market hogs, and 5.98 million were kept for breeding purposes.

From December 2024 to February 2025, U.S. farms weaned 33.7 million pigs, slightly fewer than the previous year.

The average number of pigs weaned per litter was 11.65.

U.S. producers plan to farrow 2.91 million sows between March and May 2025, with an additional 2.96 million expected to farrow from June to August 2025.

Iowa led the nation with the largest hog inventory at 24.3 million, followed by Minnesota at 9.2 million, and North Carolina at 8.1 million.

To gather accurate data, NASS surveyed 4,455 operators nationwide during early March through various methods, including online submissions, mail, phone interviews, and in-person responses.

For further details, the full report and other NASS publications can be accessed at www.nass.usda.gov.

PhotoCredit: usda

Video: Four Star Pork Industry Conf - Back to Basics: Fundamentals drive vaccine performance

At a time when disease pressure continues to challenge pork production systems across the United States, vaccination remains one of the most valuable and heavily debated tools available to veterinarians and producers.

Speaking at the 2025 Four Star Pork Industry Conference in Muncie, Indiana, Dr. Daniel Gascho, veterinarian at Four Star Veterinary Service, encouraged the industry to return to fundamentals in how vaccines are selected, handled and administered across sow farms, gilt development units and grow-finish operations.

Gascho acknowledged at the outset that vaccination can quickly become a technical and sometimes tedious topic. But he said that real-world execution, not complex immunology, is where most vaccine failures occur.