USDA Hogs and Pigs Report Bearish Futures.

Mar 31, 2017

From USDA www.USDA.gov

United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1, 2017 was 71.0 million head. This was up 4 percent from March 1, 2016, but down 1 percent from December 1, 2016.

Breeding inventory, at 6.07 million head, was up 1 percent from last year, but down slightly from the previous quarter.

Market hog inventory, at 64.9 million head, was up 4 percent from last year, but down 1 percent from last quarter.

The December 2016-February 2017 pig crop, at 31.4 million head, was up 4 percent from 2016. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 3.01 million head, up 3 percent from 2016. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 49 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was a record high of 10.43 for the December-February period, compared to 10.30 last year. Pigs saved per litter by size of operation ranged from 8.00 for operations with 1-99 hogs and pigs to 10.50 for operations with more than 5,000 hogs and pigs.

United States hog producers intend to have 3.01 million sows farrow during the March-May 2017 quarter, up 1 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2016, and up 5 percent from 2015. Intended farrowings for June August 2017, at 3.05 million sows, are down slightly from 2016, but up 1 percent from 2015.

The total number of hogs under contract owned by operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 48 percent of the total United States hog inventory, the same as previous year.

Revisions

All inventory and pig crop estimates for March 2016 through December 2016 were reviewed using final pig crop, official slaughter, death loss, and updated import and export data. The net revision made to the September 2016 all hogs and pigs inventory was 1.5 percent. A revision of 1.2 percent was made to the June-August 2016 pig crop. There were no revisions made to the December 2016 all hogs and pigs inventory.

Records

Record highs for all hogs and pigs, market hogs, pig crop and pigs per litter, by quarter, can be found on page 14

Source: USDA

Video: Making budget friendly pig feed on a small livestock farm

I am going to show you how we save our farm money by making our own pig feed. It's the same process as making our cattle feed just with a slight adjustment to our grinder/ mixer that makes all the difference. We buy all the feed stuff required to make the total mix feed. Run each through the mixer and at the end of the process we have a product that can be consumed by our pigs.

I am the 2nd generation to live on this property after my parents purchased it in 1978. As a child my father hobby farmed pigs for a couple years and ran a vegetable garden. But we were not a farm by any stretch of the imagination. There were however many family dairy farms surrounding us. So naturally I was hooked with farming since I saw my first tractor. As time went on, I worked for a couple of these farms and that only fueled my love of agriculture. In 2019 I was able to move back home as my parents were ready to downsize and I was ready to try my hand at farming. Stacy and logan share the same love of farming as I do. Stacy growing up on her family's dairy farm and logans exposure of farming/tractors at a very young age. We all share this same passion to grow a quality/healthy product to share with our community. Join us on this journey and see where the farm life takes us.