USDA Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report - December 2008 [Updated]
This quarter's quarterly Hogs and Pigs report from the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
6 January 2009
5 minute read
Introduction
This document aims to pull together, in one place of reference, all the various information generated by the USDA Quarterly report. This document includes:
For a PRINTABLE VERSION of the full 24 page report in PDF format, including all the tabular data which is not shown in this article, Click Here
USDA Quarterly Pigs and Hogs Report: December 2008
US Hog Inventory Down 2 Per Cent
US inventory of all hogs and pigs on 1 December, 2008 was 66.7 million head. This was down 2 per cent from both 1 December, 2007 and 1 September, 2008.
Breeding inventory, at 6.08 million head, was down 2 per cent from last year but up slightly from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 60.6 million head, was down 2 per cent from both last year and last quarter.
The September-November 2008 pig crop, at 28.4 million head, was down 4 per cent from 2007 but up 6 per cent from 2006. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.99 million head, down 6 per cent from 2007 but up 1 per cent from 2006. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 49 per cent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was 9.50 for the September-November 2008 period, compared to 9.28 last year. Pigs saved per litter by size of operation ranged from 7.50 for operations with 1-99 hogs and pigs to 9.60 for operations with more than 5,000 hogs and pigs.
US hog producers intend to have 2.97 million sows farrow during the December 2008-February 2009 quarter, down 3 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2008 but up 2 per cent from 2007. Intended farrowings for March-May 2009, at 3.01 million sows, are down 2 per cent from 2008 and down 1 per cent from 2007.
The total number of hogs under contract owned by operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 43 per cent of the total US hog inventory, up from 39 per cent last year.
Revisions
All inventory and pig crop estimates for March 2007 through September 2008 were reviewed using slaughter, death loss and current import and export data. Based on this review, adjustments of less than one half of one percent were made to the June 2008 total inventory and March-May 2007 pig crop. An adjustment of less than two percent was made to the March-May 2008 pig crop while an adjustment of less than one percent was made to the September 2008 total inventory.
What It All Means - Expert Commentary
What the commentators and industry thinkers read into this data:
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Ron Plain and Glenn Grimes Grimes & Plain on the Hogs and Pigs Report USDA's December Hogs and Pigs report came in reasonably close to trade estimates, write Glenn Grimes and Ron Plain. |
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Steve Meyer, Paragon Economics, Inc Hogs & Pigs Report a 'Mixed Bag' USDA’s quarterly Hogs & Pigs report, released on Tuesday, was a bit of a hodge-podge, writes Economist Steve Meyer. |
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Jim Long Pork Commentary: Hog Supply Plummets After a year and a half which Producers lost in excess of $20.00 per head, with the industry losing in excess of $3 billion, US hog supply according to the USDA quarterly hog and pigs report will plummet in mid April 2009, writes Jim Long. |
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John Lawrence and Shane Ellis, Iowa State University December 2008 Hog and Pig Report Down 2 Per Cent The US swine industry continued on its course of retraction in the last months of the year, write John Lawrence and Shane Ellis. |
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Chris Hurt, Purdue University Weekly Outlook: Return to Modest Profits Likely Chris Hurt comments on the latest USDA Hogs and Pigs report |
More to follow soon...
In The News - What The Media Says
- CME: Hogs and Pigs Report a Mixed Bag - CME
- Weekly Review: Pork Demand Weak All Year Long - AgEBB
- CME: US Pig Producers' Prospects Improve - CME
- North American Live Hog Prices Expected to Rise - Farmscape
- Pork Commentary: Relentless Price Increase Begins - Genuses
Graph Data from the Report
September-November
US Pigs per Litter
By Size of Operation, September-November 2008
US Quarterly Sows Farrowed
September-November
US Quarterly Pig Crop
September-November
US Hog Inventory & Market Hogs
December 1
US Hog Inventory & Market Hogs
March 1
US Hog Inventory & Market Hogs
June 1
US Hog Inventory & Market Hogs
September 1
Reliability of December 1 Hogs and Pigs Estimates
To review this information, including the Survey Procedures, Estimation Procedures, Revision Policy and Reliability, please download the PDF
Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report, December 2008 - USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
