As of Dec. 1, there were 73.1 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms, down 2% from December 2021 and down 1% from Sept. 1, 2022, according to the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report that was recently published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Other key findings in the report were

• Of the 73.1 million hogs and pigs, 67.0 million were market hogs, while 6.15 million were kept for breeding.
• Between September 2022 and November 2022, 33.7 million pigs were weaned on U.S. farms, down 1% from the same time period one year earlier.
• From September 2022 through November 2022, U.S. hog and pig producers weaned an average of 11.22 pigs per litter.
• U.S. hog producers intend to have 2.95 million sows farrow between December 2022 and February 2023, and 2.98 million sows farrow between March and May 2023.
• Iowa hog producers accounted for the largest inventory among the states, at 23.6 million head. Minnesota had the second largest inventory at 8.60 million head. North Carolina was third with 8.20 million head.

To obtain an accurate measurement of the U.S. swine industry, NASS surveyed roughly 6,300 operators across the nation during the first half of December. The data collected were received by electronic data recording, mail, telephone and through face-to-face interviews.

There was a question and answer session during a live #StatChat on the @usda_nass Twitter account on Dec. 23 at 4:00 p.m. EST to answer questions about the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report. The #statchat happens every quarter after the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report is released.

The Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report and all other NASS reports are available online at nass.usda.gov.

Source: USDA NASS