There were 3 percent more hogs and pigs on Iowa farms on Sept. 1 than the previous quarter, according to the quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released today.

The Iowa inventory was 22.9 million hogs and pigs, a 3 percent increase from both the previous quarter and the previous year.

The June-Aug. 2017 quarterly pig crop was 5.94 million head, up 23,000 head from the previous quarter and 6 percent above last year. A total of 530,000 sows farrowed during this quarter. The average pigs saved per litter was 11.20 for the quarter, which was the highest pigs saved per litter on record.

As of Sept. 1, producers planned to farrow 520,000 sows and gilts in the Sept.-Nov. quarter and 500,000 head during the December 2017-February 2018 quarter.

U.S. Hogs and Pigs
The United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on Sept. 1 was 73.5 million head. This was up 2 percent from Sept. 1, 2016, and 3 percent from June 1, 2017.

Breeding inventory, at 6.09 million head, was up 1 percent from last year, and up slightly from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 67.5 million head, was up 3 percent from last year, and up 3 percent from last quarter.

The June-Aug. 2017 pig crop, at 33.0 million head, was up 2 percent from 2016. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 3.10 million head, up 2 percent from 2016. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 51 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was a record high of 10.65 for the June-Aug. period, compared to 10.58 last year.

U.S. pig farmers intend to have 3.07 million sows farrow during the Sept.-Nov. 2017 quarter, up 1 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2016, and up 5 percent from 2015. Intended farrowings for Dec.-Feb. 2018, at 3.02 million sows, are up 1 percent from 2017, and up 3 percent from 2016.

The total number of hogs under contract owned by operations with more than 5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 47 percent of the total U.S. hog inventory, unchanged from the previous year.

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