Nebraska Ag Connection - National/World News - U.S. Hog Inventory Up 4 Percent from a Year Ago

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U.S. Hog Inventory Up 4 Percent from a Year Ago
USAgNet - 03/27/2020

United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1, 2020 was 77.6 million head. This was up 4 percent from March 1, 2019, but down 1 percent from December 1, 2019.

Breeding inventory, at 6.38 million head, was up slightly from last year, but down 1 percent from the previous quarter.

Market hog inventory, at 71.3 million head, was up 4 percent from last year, but down 1 percent from last quarter.

The December 2019-February 2020 pig crop, at 34.7 million head, was up 5 percent from last year. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 3.16 million head, up 2 percent from previous year. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 49 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was a record high of 11.00 for the December 2019-February 2020 period, compared to 10.70 last year.

United States hog producers intend to have 3.12 million sows farrow during the March-May 2020 quarter, down slightly from the actual farrowings during the same period one year earlier, but up 2 percent from the same period two years earlier. Intended farrowings for June-August 2020, at 3.13 million sows, are down 4 percent from the same period one year earlier, and down 1 percent from the same period two years earlier.

The total number of hogs under contract owned by operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 49 percent of the total United States hog inventory, up 2 percent from the previous year.

All inventory and pig crop estimates for March 2019 through December 2019 were reviewed using final pig crop, official slaughter, death loss, and updated import and export data. The revision made to the December 2019 all hogs and pigs inventory was 1.7 percent. A revision of 2.6 percent was made to the September-November 2019 pig crop. The net revision made to the September 2019 all hogs and pigs inventory was 1.2 percent. A net revision of 3.0 percent was made to the June-August 2019 pig crop.

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