January 8, 2008

Greater inventory, more farrowings and piglets saved leading to more US hogs

Rising US inventory is likely to be boosted by more farrowings and a greater number of piglets saved, according to statistics from the National Agricultural Statistics Service.  

US inventory of all hogs and pigs on Dec. 1, was 65.1 million head. This was up 4% from Dec. 1, 2006, but down 1 percent from Sept. 1, 2007.

Breeding inventory, at 6.16 million head, was up 1 percent from last year.

Market hog inventory, at 59.0 million head, was up 5 percent from last year, but down 1 percent from last quarter.

The September-November 2007 pig crop, at 28.0 million head, was up 4 percent from 2006.

Sows farrowing during this period totaled 3.03 million head, up 3 percent from 2006.

The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 49 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was 9.24 for the September-November 2007 period, compared to 9.11 last year.

U.S. hog producers intend to have 2.98 million sows farrow during the December 2007 - February 2008 quarter, up 2 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2007.

Intended farrowings for March-May 2008, at 3.04 million sows, are up slightly from 2007 and up 4 percent from 2006.