The U.S. inventory of hogs and pigs on September 1, 2024, totaled 76.5 million head, up slightly from September 1, 2023, and two percent higher than June 1, 2024. Breeding inventory, at 6.04 million head, was down two percent from last year, but up one percent from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 70.4 million head, was up one percent from last year, and up two percent from last quarter. The June-August 2024 pig crop, at 35 million head, was one percent below 2023. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.99 million head, two percent lower than in 2023. The sows farrowed during the quarter represented 50 percent of the overall breeding herd. U.S. hog producers intend to have 2.96 million sows farrow during the September-November 2024 quarter, down slightly from the actual farrowing during the same period last year, and down four percent from the same time in 2022.
U.S. hog inventory up slightly
