USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released its quarterly Hogs and Pig Report this afternoon and it shows a slight decline in the Iowa herd over the past quarter.
As of Dec. 1, there were 20.8 million hogs and pigs on Iowa farms. The Dec. 1 inventory was down 2 percent from September and down 2 percent from last December’s 21.3 million head. Iowa farms generally raise a third of the nation’s hogs.
The Sept.-Nov. quarterly pig crop was 5.61 million head, up 4 percent from the previous quarter and 3 percent above 2014. A total of 510,000 sows farrowed during this quarter. The average pigs saved per litter was 11.00 for the Sept-Nov. quarter, a record high.
As of Dec. 1, producers planned to farrow 500,000 head of sows and gilts in the December 2015-February 2016 quarter and 495,000 head during the March-May 2016 quarter.
U.S. inventory at record high
The number of hogs and pigs on all U.S. hog farms on Dec. 1 was 68.3 million head. This was up 1 percent from Dec. 1, 2014, and up slightly from Sept. 1, 2015. This is the highest inventory of all hogs and pigs since quarterly United States estimates began in 1988.
Breeding inventory, at 6.00 million head, was up 1 percent from last year, and up slightly from the previous quarter.
Market hog inventory, at 62.3 million head, was up 1 percent from last year, and up slightly from last quarter. This is the highest market hog inventory since quarterly United States estimates began in 1988.
The Sept.-Nov. pig crop, at 30.3 million head, was down 1 percent from 2014. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.88 million head, down 4 percent from 2014. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 48 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was a record high 10.53 for the Sept.-Nov. period, compared to 10.23 last year.
United States hog producers intend to have 2.84 million sows farrow during the Dec.-Feb. 2016 quarter, down 2 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2015, but up 3 percent from 2014. Intended farrowings for March-May 2016, at 2.85 million sows, are down slightly from 2015, but up 1 percent from 2014.
The total number of hogs under contract owned by operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 46 percent of the total United States hog inventory, unchanged from last year.
Source: IPPA