Daily Newsletters
Account
Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
USDA releases quarterly hog and pig report
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
On Dec. 1, 2024, there were 24.6 million hogs and pigs on Iowa farms, according to the latest USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service — Hogs and Pigs report. Inventory was down 3 percent from the previous quarter and down 2% from the previous year.
The September-November 2024 quarterly pig crop was 5.57 million head, down 1% from the previous quarter but up 4% from last year. A total of 480,000 sows farrowed during this quarter. The average pigs saved per litter was 11.60 for the quarter.
As of Dec. 1, Iowa producers planned to farrow 475,000 sows and gilts in the December 2024-February 2025 quarter and 475,000 head during the March-May 2025 quarter.
Nationally, United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on Dec. 1, 2024, was 75.8 million head. This was up 1 percent from Dec. 1, 2023, but down slightly from Sept. 1, 2024.
Breeding inventory, at 6.00 million head, was up slightly from last year, but down 1 percent from the previous quarter.
Market hog inventory, at 69.8 million head, was up 1 percent from last year, but down slightly from last quarter.
The September-November 2024 pig crop, at 35.2 million head, was up 2 percent from 2023. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.96 million head, down slightly from 2023. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 49% of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was 11.92 for the September-November period, compared to 11.66 last year.
United States hog producers intend to have 2.93 million sows farrow during the December 2024-February 2025 quarter, up slightly from the actual farrowings during the same period one year earlier, but down 1 percent from the same period two years earlier. Intended farrowings for March-May 2025, at 2.95 million sows, are up 1 percent from the same period one year earlier, and up slightly from the same period two years earlier.
The total number of hogs under contract owned by operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 50% of the total United States hog inventory, down 1 percent from the previous year.
