United States Hog Inventory Up Slightly From Year Ago

Late last week, DTN reported that, “United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on Sept. 1, 2023, was 74.3 million head. This was up slightly from Sept. 1, 2022, and up 2% from June 1, 2023, USDA NASS reported on Thursday.

“Breeding inventory, at 6.08 million head, was down 1% from last year, and down 1% from the previous quarter.

“Market hog inventory, at 68.2 million head, was up slightly from last year, and up 2% from last quarter.”

And Dow Jones writer Kirk Maltais reported on Thursday that, “In its quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report issued Thursday, the USDA said for the quarter ended Sept. 1, total inventories of hogs and pigs climbed by 194,000 head to 74.32 million head. That is an uptick of 0.3 percentage points from last year, running counter to expectations for a decline in inventories.”

Maltais added that,

The report also showed the average amount of piglets in a litter again soared for the quarter.

“Pigs per litter hit an average of 11.61 pigs per litter, which is up from 11.13 at this time last year.

“Analysts told The Wall Street Journal this week a higher pigs-per-litter count would offset reductions in the breeding herd.”