Pigs saved per litter set new record for Dec.-Feb. farrowing quarter

Cheryl Day 1, Staff Editor

March 27, 2015

2 Min Read
Quarterly hog report confirms expansion underway

The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service reported 7% more hogs in the U.S. on March 1 in comparison to a year ago.

The highly anticipated “Quarterly Hogs and Pigs” report released on Mar. 27 showed estimates were closely in line with market analysts’ pre-report estimates. 

As of March 1, there were 65.9 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms, down slightly from December 1, 2014 (figure).

Quarterly hogs and pigs estimates, million head

-USDA-

2015 as % of 2014-

Pre-Estimates

2015 as % of 2014

Category

2014

2015

LMIC

All hogs and pigs, Mar. 1

61.494

65.934

107

107

Hogs kept for breeding

5.851

5.982

102

103.5

Hogs kept for marketing

55.643

59.953

108

107.5

Dec.-Feb. pig crop

26.326

28.758

109

108.9

Dec.-Feb. pigs/litter

9.53

10.17

107

105.2

Dec.-Feb. farrowings

2.763

2.829

102

103.6

Mar-May farrowing intentions

2.810

2.870

102

103.1

Jun.-Aug. farrowing intentions

2.991

2.927

102

103

Hogs weighing under 50 lb.

17.336

18.959

109

108.8

Hogs weighing 50-119 lb.

15.487

16.509

107

106.8

Hogs weighing 120-179 lb.

12.538

13.290

106

106.5

Hogs weighing 180 lb.-plus

10.281

11.195

109

107.4

Sources: U.S. Department of Agriculture, LMIC

Breaking down the inventory total, 60 million hogs and pigs were market hogs whereas 5.98 million head were kept for breeding.  

The December 2014 through February 2015 pig crop penciled at 28.8 million head, up 9% from a year ago.  During the same period, sow farrowings stood at 2.83 million head, up 2% from 2014.  The average pigs saved per litter was record 10.17 for the Dec.-Feb. period.

Noteworthy, U.S. hog producers intend to have 2.87 million sows farrow during March through May, up 2% from the actually farrowing in the same quarter in 2014.  Intended farrowing for June-August was estimated at 2.93 million head, down 2% from 2014.

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