US: End-of-year hog inventory increases compared to 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its latest quarterly hog and pig report on Dec. 23, reporting that there were a total of 75.8 million hogs on U.S. farms as of Dec. 1, up 1% from year-ago levels. The data was obtained from a NASS survey of 6,046 operators nationwide during the first half of December. While numbers were up from a year ago, NASS reported that total hogs as of December were down slightly from Sept. 1, 2024. Of the 75.8 million hogs, 69.8 million were market hogs, while 6 million were raised for breeding. Between September and November 2024, 35.2 million pigs were weaned on U.S. farms, an increase of 2% over the same period last year. NASS reported that hog producers weaned an average of 11.92 pigs per litter between September and November. U.S. hog producers forecast that 2.93 million sows would farrow between December 2024 and February ...