Farms.com Editorial Team
USDA Released the Quarterly Hog and Pigs Report.
US inventory of all hogs and pigs on June 1, 2016 was 68.4 million head. This was up 2% from June 1, 2015, and up 1% from March 1, 2016. This is the highest June 1 inventory of all hogs and pigs since estimates began in 1964.
Breeding inventory, at 5.98 million head, was up 1% from last year, but down slightly from the previous quarter.
Market hog inventory, at 62.4 million head, was up 2% from last year, and up 1% from last quarter. This is the highest June 1 market hog inventory since estimates began in 1964
The March-May 2016 pig crop, at 30.3 million head, was up 3% from 2015. This is the largest March-May pig crop since 1971. Sows farrowed during this period totaled 2.90 million head, up 1% from 2015. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 48% of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was a record high 10.48 for the March-May period, compared to 10.37 last year. Pigs saved per litter by size of operation ranged from 8.10 for operations with 1-99 hogs and pigs to 10.50 for operations with more than 5,000 hogs and pigs.
US hog producers intend to have 2.95 million sows farrow during the June-August 2016 quarter, down 2% from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2015, and down 1% from 2014. Intended farrowings for September-November 2016, at 2.90 million sows, are down 1% from 2015, and down 3% from 2014.
The total number of hogs under contract owned by operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 47% of the total US hog inventory, up from 46% last year.
For more information you can find the full USDA report.
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/HogsPigs/HogsPigs-06-24-2016.pdf