United States Hog Inventory Up Slightly

Mar 31, 2023

As of March 1, there were 72.9 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms, up slightly from March 2022 but down 2% from Dec. 1, 2022, according to the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report published today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

livestock

Other key findings in the report were:

Of the 72.9 million hogs and pigs, 66.7 million were market hogs, while 6.13 million were kept for breeding.
Between December 2022 and February 2023, 32.1 million pigs were weaned on U.S. farms, up slightly from the same time period one year earlier.
From December 2022 through February 2023, U.S. hog and pig producers weaned an average of 11.02 pigs per litter.
U.S. hog producers intend to have 2.93 million sows farrow between March and May 2023, and 2.97 million sows farrow between June and August 2023.
Iowa hog producers accounted for the largest inventory among the states, at 23.4 million head. Minnesota had the second largest inventory at 8.90 million head. North Carolina was third with 8.00 million head.

To obtain an accurate measurement of the U.S. swine industry, NASS surveyed roughly 4,500 operators across the nation during the first half of March. The data collected were received by electronic data recording, mail, telephone and through face-to-face interviews.

There will be a question-and-answer session during a live #StatChat on the @usda_nass Twitter account today at 4:00 p.m. EDT to answer your questions about the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report. To ask a question, make sure you include the #StatChat to any questions you may have. The #statchat happens every quarter after the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report is released.

Source : usda.gov

Video: A chain harrow is a game changer

Utilizing a rotational grazing method on our farmstead with our sheep helps to let the pasture/paddocks rest. We also just invested in a chain harrow to allow us to drag the paddocks our sheep just left to break up and spread their manure around, dethatch thicker grass areas, and to rough up bare dirt areas to all for a better seed to soil contact if we overseed that paddock. This was our first time really using the chain harrow besides initially testing it out. We are very impressed with the work it did and how and area that was majority dirt, could be roughed up before reseeding.

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