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More sows bodes well for South Dakota farm economy

South Dakota’s sow numbers have jumped by 15,000 since December.  South Dakota State University Extension Swine Specialist Bob Thaler says the 190,000 sows reported by the agency in late March is South Dakota’s highest sow number in more than twenty years.

Thaler says figuring conservatively, if each sow produces 25 pigs a year, that’s an extra 375,000 pigs annually.

He says the additional market hogs have a positive impact on South Dakota agriculture, consuming more than 3.5 million bushels of corn and more than 21,000 tons of soybean meal.