REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — Ohio hog producers had 1,930,000 hogs on hand Dec. 1, 2008, up 5 percent from a year earlier, and up 1 percent from last quarter.
The number of market hogs, at 1,760,000 head, was up 5 percent from last year and up slightly from last quarter.
Breeding stock, at 170,000 head, was up 6 percent from last year and 3 percent from last quarter.
Pig crop down
The September-November pig crop numbered 792,000 head, which was down 3 percent from last year and down 6 percent from last quarter.
The number of sows farrowed during the September-November 2008 quarter at 88,000 was 1,000 below last quarter but 2,000 above last year.
Pigs saved per litter during the September-November 2008 quarter averaged 9.0 and was down 5 percent from the same period last year and last quarter.
Ohio producers intend to farrow 82,000 sows during the December-February 2009 quarter; down 8 percent from a year earlier.
Farrowing intentions for the spring quarter, March-May 2009, is 88,000; 1,000 less than the same quarter of 2008.
U.S. inventory
U.S. inventory of all hogs and pigs Dec. 1, 2008 was 66.7 million head. This was down 2 percent from both Dec. 1, 2007 and Sept. 1, 2008.
Breeding inventory, at 6.08 million head, was down 2 percent from last year but up slightly from the previous quarter.
Market hog inventory, at 60.6 million head, was down 2 percent from both last year and last quarter.
The September-November 2008 pig crop, at 28.4 million head, was down 4 percent from 2007 but up 6 percent from 2006.
Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.99 million head, down 6 percent from 2007 but up 1 percent from 2006.
The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 49 percent of the breeding herd.
The average pigs saved per litter was 9.50 for the September-November 2008 period, compared to 9.28 last year.
Pigs saved per litter by size of operation ranged from 7.50 for operations with 1-99 hogs and pigs to 9.60 for operations with more than 5,000 hogs and pigs.
U.S. hog producers intend to have 2.97 million sows farrow during the December 2008-February 2009 quarter, down 3 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2008 but up 2 percent from 2007.
Intended farrowings
Intended farrowings for March-May 2009, at 3.01 million sows, are down 2 percent from 2008 and down 1 percent from 2007.
The total number of hogs under contract owned by operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 43 percent of the total U.S. hog inventory, up from 39 percent last year.
