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USDA reports some expansion in U.S. hog inventory

The USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report shows some short-term expansion.

The U.S. swine inventory on March 1^st of 72.86 million head was down 2% from the last quarter due to due to a revision in the USDA data, but that is slightly larger than this time last year.

That included modest year-to-year increases in both the breeding and the marketing herds, to 6.127 million and 66.734 million head, respectively, along with a slightly larger pig crop of 32.1 million head and record number of pigs per litter at 11.02, against a fractional decrease in the number of sows farrowed.

Projections for farrowing intentions for March through May and June through August are both down 3% from the same period in 2022.

Contract hogs on operations of more than 5,000 head made up 51% of the U.S. inventory, 2% above a year ago.

The numbers were very close to what some analysts were expecting ahead of the report and could be bearish near-term, bullish long-term, but that will depend on farrowing efficiency and pork demand.