April 8, 2009

Producers in Indiana, midwestern region of US, had a total inventory of 3.5 million hogs and pigs on March 1, 2009, down 4 percent from a year earlier.

 

Market hogs, at 3.23 million head were 3 percent below last year, while breeding inventory, at 270,000 head, was down 13 percent from last year.

 

Sows farrowed totalled 140,000 during the December 2008 - February 2009 quarter, down 7 percent from the same period a year earlier.

 

Pig crop, at 1.30 million head, decreased 4 percent from last year with a litter rate averaging 9.30, up 3 percent from the same period in 2008.

 

Indiana producers intend to farrow 135,000 sows from March to May 2009, down 7 percent from last year, and 140,000 sows from June to August 2009, down 3 percent from last year.

 

US inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1, 2009 was estimated at 65.4 million head, down 3 percent from the same period last year, and down 2 percent from December 1, 2008.

 

Breeding inventory is at 6.01 million head, down 3 percent from last year and down 1 percent from the previous quarter.

 

Market hog inventory is at 59.4 million head, down 3 percent from last year and down 2 percent from last quarter.

 

The December 2008 to February 2009 US pig crop was at 28.2 million head, down 1 percent from 2008 but up 7 percent from 2007.

 

Sows farrowing during this period totalled 2.98 million head, down 3 percent from 2008 but up 3 percent from 2007.

 

The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 50 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs per litter were 9.48 pigs saved per litter for the December 2008 to February 2009 period, compared to 9.24 pigs last year.

 

US hog producers intend to have 2.96 million sows farrow during the March to May 2009 quarter, down 3 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2008, and down 2 percent from 2007, while intended farrowings for June to August 2009, at 2.95 million sows, are down 4 percent from 2008 and down 6 percent from 2007.