Ohio hog and pig population grows
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported an increase in Ohio's total hog and pig inventory, rising to 2.70 million head on Dec. 1, 2024, which marks an addition of 100,000 head from the previous year.
Ben Torrance, state statistician, provided this information via Dec. 26 news release for the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Ohio Field Office.
The breeding hog inventory in Ohio now stands at 200,000 head, showing a 5 percent increase compared to last December.
The market hog sector also grew, now totaling 2.50 million head, a 4 percent rise from last year. Further, the average pigs saved per litter during the September to November quarter reached 11.60, up from 11.20 in the same period last year.
Nationally, the inventory of all hogs and pigs as of December 1 was 75.8 million head, a slight increase of 1 percent over the previous year but a minor decline from Sept. 1, 2024.
The national breeding inventory was slightly up from last year at 6.00 million head, although it was down by 1 percent from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory across the United States mirrored the breeding numbers, recording a modest annual growth to 69.8 million head but decreasing slightly from the previous quarter.
The September-November 2024 pig crop in the United States totaled 35.2 million head, showing a 2 percent increase from 2023. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.96 million head, slightly down from the previous year.
These sows represented 49 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter for the nation during the September-November period was 11.92, compared to 11.66 last year.
Looking ahead, U.S. hog producers plan to have 2.93 million sows farrow during the December 2024-February 2025 quarter, which is slightly higher than the actual farrowings during the same period a year earlier but marks a 1 percent decline from two years ago, the report shows.
Intended farrowings for March-May 2025 are projected at 2.95 million sows, up 1 percent from one year earlier and slightly up from two years prior.