Indiana’s total hog and pig inventory on March 1 was estimated at 4.40 million head, unchanged from a year ago, according to Nathanial Warenski, State Statistician of the USDA NASS, Indiana Field Office. Breeding hog inventory, at 250,000 head, was unchanged from last March. Market hog inventory, at 4.15 million head, was unchanged from last year. The average pigs saved per litter for the December-February 2024 quarter was 11.30, compared to 11.25 last year.
United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1, 2024 was 74.6 million head. This was up 1 percent from March 1, 2023, but down 2 percent from December 1, 2023. Breeding inventory, at 6.02 million head, was down 2 percent from last year, but up slightly from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 68.6 million head, was up 1 percent from last year, but down 2 percent from last quarter.
The December 2023-February 2024 pig crop, at 33.1 million head, was up 2 percent from last year. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.88 million head, down 3 percent from previous year. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 48 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was 11.53 for the December 2023-February 2024 period, compared to 11.02 last year.
United States hog producers intend to have 2.92 million sows farrow during the March-May 2024 quarter, down 1 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period one year earlier, and down 2 percent from the same period two years earlier. Intended farrowings for June-August 2024, at 2.99 million sows, are down 2 percent from the same period one year earlier, and down 3 percent from the same period two years earlier.
