As of December 1, there were 77.3 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms, up 3 percent from December 2018, but down slightly from September 1, 2019, according to the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report published today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
Other key findings in the report were:
- Of the 77.3 million hogs and pigs, 70.9 million were market hogs, while 6.46 million were kept for breeding.
- Between September and November 2019, 35.1 million pigs were weaned on U.S. farms, up 2 percent from the same time period one year earlier.
- From September through November 2019, U.S. hog and pig producers weaned an average of 11.09 pigs per litter.
- U.S. hog producers intend to have 3.13 million sows farrow between December 2019 and February 2020, and 3.15 million sows farrow between March and May 2020.
- Iowa hog producers accounted for the largest inventory among the states, at 24.8 million head. North Carolina and Minnesota are tied for the second largest inventory at 9.20 million head.
To obtain an accurate measurement of the U.S. swine industry, NASS surveyed over 6,600 operators across the nation during the first half of December. The data collected were received by electronic data recording, mail, telephone and through face-to-face interviews. All surveyed producers were asked to report their hog and pig inventories as of December 1, 2019.
The Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report and all other NASS reports are available online at
www.nass.usda.gov.
Source : USDA