On Dec. 1, there were 360,000 hogs and pigs on Wisconsin farms, according to the latest USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service’s Hogs and Pigs report. The inventory was up 4 percent from last December’s 345,000 head.
Looking at the entire U.S., inventory of hogs and pigs on Dec. 1 totaled 75 million head, up slightly from 2022, but down slightly from Sep. 1, 2023.
In Wisconsin breeding hogs accounted for 47,000 head of the total inventory, while market hogs totaled 313,000 head.
Across the nation, breeding inventory, at 6 million head, was down 3 percent from last year, and down 3 percent from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 69 million head, was up slightly from last year, but down slightly from last quarter.
Wisconsin’s annual pig crop was 1.08 million head, up 2 percent from last year, resulting from 95,000 sows farrowed during the December 2022-November 2023 period. The average pigs saved per litter was 11.40 for the year, down 1 percent from last year.
The U.S. September-November 2023 pig crop, at 34.6 million head, was down slightly from 2022. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.97 million head, down 4 percent from 2022. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 48 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was 11.66 for the September-November period, compared to 11.22 last year.
