Special Report

Litter size number is a surprise

Perhaps the most surprising number in Friday’s hogs and pigs report was average pigs saved per litter.  It was another record high for the period at 10.33, an increase of two percent from a year ago. 

Many analysts, such as Len Steiner of Steiner Consulting Group, expected a lower number due to the outbreak of PEDV—the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus.

“Not only for the PEDV, but as we’re starting to cycle into less gestation crates, I thought that it would be trending lower—or at least the growth would be slowed down,” Steiner says. “That doesn’t seem to be the case.”

The June to August pig crop number of 30.2 million head was also two percent above a year ago.