AGRICULTURAL

USDA Hogs and Pigs Report

Staff Writer
Aledo Times Record

The Illinois Field Office of NASS today released the USDA's March 1 Hogs and Pigs Report.  State and national highlights of the report include:

ILLINOIS

The number of hogs and pigs on March 1, 2012 was 4.65 million, 6 percent more than on March 1, 2011 and steady with what was on hand December 1, 2011.  Breeding hogs on hand March 1, 2012 were estimated at 510 thousand head, up 9 percent from a year earlier, and market hogs, at 4.14 million head, were up 5 percent.  

The pig crop from December of 2011 through February of 2012 was 2.53 million, 5

percent above the same period a year earlier.  There were 255 thousand sows that

farrowed, up 2 percent from a year earlier.  The litter rate for the quarter was 9.90

pigs saved per litter, steady with the previous quarter.  

Farrowing intentions for the March through May quarter of 2012 are 265 thousand, up 4 percent from those farrowed during this period a year earlier.  The first estimate of intentions for the June through August quarter of 2012 is for 260 thousand sows to

farrow, up 2 percent from the previous year.

UNITED STATES

United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1, 2012 was 64.9 million head.

This was up 2 percent from March 1, 2011, but down 2 percent from December 1, 2011.  

Breeding inventory, at 5.82 million head, was up 1 percent from last year, and up

slightly from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 59.1 million head, was

up 2 percent from last year, but down 2 percent from last quarter.

The December 2011-February 2012 pig crop, at 28.7 million head, was up 3 percent from 2011. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.88 million head, up 1 percent from 2011. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 50 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was a record high 9.97 for the December-February period, compared to 9.80 last year. Pigs saved per litter by size of operation ranged from 7.30 for operations with 1-99 hogs and pigs to 10.00 for

operations with more than 5,000 hogs and pigs.