United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on June 1, 2024, was 74.5 million head. This was up 1% from June 1, 2023, and up slightly from March 1, 2024, USDA NASS reported on Thursday. Click here for the complete report.
Breeding inventory, at 6.01 million head, was down 3% from last year, and down slightly from the previous quarter.
Market hog inventory, at 68.5 million head, was up 2% from last year, and up slightly from last quarter.
The March-May 2024 pig crop, at 34.0 million head, was up 2% from 2023. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.94 million head, up slightly from 2023. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 49% of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was 11.56 for the March-May period, compared to 11.36 last year.
Oklahoma breeding sow numbers grew by two percent compared to a year ago- with the state now home to 480,000 sows- the sixth largest state in the US in breeding hog numbers. Many of the weaned pigs produced by Oklahoma farmers are shipped north into the corn belt where feed supplies are more plentiful. Total hog numbers in the state as of June first was five percent smaller than June of 2023 at 2.08 million head- making the state the tenth largest total hog inventory state in the US.
Iowa is the easily the largest pork producing state in the US- with 24.6 million head- three percent more than a year ago. Iowa is also the largest breeding sow state but saw a ten percent drop in sow numbers in this report to 820,000 sows as of June first.
United States hog producers intend to have 2.96 million sows farrow during the June-August 2024 quarter, down 3% from the actual farrowings during the same period one year earlier, and down 4% from the same period two years earlier. Intended farrowings for September-November 2024, at 2.94 million sows, are down 1% from the same period one year earlier, and down 5% from the same period two years earlier.
