Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report Puts Pressure on 2025 Prices

Dec 30, 2024

By Bernt Nelson

Though lower feed costs in 2024 have provided opportunities for profitability, hog producers have a long way to go to make up for their 2023 losses, when farrow-to-finish operations lost $31 per head.

According to USDA’s most recent Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report, the inventory of all U.S. hogs and pigs was 75.8 million hogs, up 1% from the fourth quarter in 2023. This report, issued four times per year, presents information on inventory, class, weight group, farrowings and farrowing intentions for the current U.S. pig crop. The fourth quarter report was released on Dec. 23.

Breeding Herd and Pig Crop

The breeding inventory was 6 million head, also up about 1% from 2023 but slightly down from last quarter. The September-November pig crop was 35.2 million, up nearly 2% from 2023. Sows farrowing between September and November were 2.96 million, down a quarter of a percent from last year and representing 49% of the overall breeding herd. Pigs saved per litter were a record-high 11.92. The rise in pigs saved per litter more than makes up for the 2% decline in farrowings for the fourth quarter. Farrowing intentions for the first quarter of 2025 are 2.95 million, up about 1% from 2024. The slightly higher farrowing intentions, if paired with continued high pigs saved per litter could increase inventory numbers, which would put downward pressure on prices to start out the new year.

Market Hogs

The market hog inventory was 69.8 million, up 1% from last year but down slightly from last quarter. The lighter weight categories, under 50 pounds and 50-119 pounds, were up 1.2% and 1.4%, respectively, to 21.8 million and 19.4 million. The heavier-weight market hogs, 119-179 pounds, were 14.8 million, while the inventory of hogs 180 pounds and above was 13.6 million. Both heavier categories were down about half a percent, which suggests slightly lower hog slaughter for the first quarter of 2025.

Click here to see more...

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.