LANSING, Mich. — December Hogs and Pigs Ohio’s total hog and pig inventory on Dec.1 was estimated at 2.15 million head, down 50,000 head from a year ago, according to Cheryl Turner, State Statistician of the USDA, NASS, Ohio Field Office.
Breeding hog inventory, at 170,000 head, was unchanged from last December.
Market inventory
Market hog inventory, at 1.98 million head, was down 2.5 percent from last year. The average pigs saved per litter for the September to November quarter at 10.35 was down 0.05 pigs from last year.
United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on Dec.1, 2014 was 66.1 million head. This was up 2 percent from Dec. 1, 2013, and up 1 percent from Sept. 1, 2014.
Breeding inventory
Breeding inventory, at 5.97 million head, was up 4 percent from last year, and up 1 percent from the previous quarter.
Market hog inventory, at 60.1 million head, was up 2 percent from last year, and up 1 percent from last quarter.
The September-November 2014 pig crop, at 29.4 million head, was up 4 percent from 2013. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.87 million head, up 3 percent from 2013. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 48 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was a record high 10.23 for the September-November period, compared to 10.16 last year.
Litter size
Pigs saved per litter by size of operation ranged from 8.10 for operations with 1-99 hogs and pigs to 10.30 for operations with more than 5,000 hogs and pigs.
United States hog producers intend to have 2.87 million sows farrow during the December-February 2015 quarter, up 4 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2014, and up 3 percent from 2013. Intended farrowings for March-May 2015, at 2.90 million sows, are up 3 percent from 2014, and up 3 percent from 2013.