As of 1 September, there were 75.5 million hogs and pigs on US farms, up 3 percent from September 2017, and up 3 percent from 1 June, 2018, according to the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report published by the US Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Other key findings in the report were:

• Of the 75.5 million hogs and pigs, 69.2 million were market hogs, while 6.33 million were kept for breeding.
• Between June and August 2018, 34.2 million pigs were weaned on US farms, up 3 percent from the same time period one year earlier.
• From June through August 2018, US hog and pig producers weaned an average of 10.72 pigs per litter.
• US hog producers intend to have 3.16 million sows farrow between September and November 2018, and 3.12 million sows farrow between December 2018 and February 2019.
• Iowa hog producers accounted for the largest inventory among the states, at 23.6 million head. North Carolina and Minnesota had the second and third largest inventories with 9.40 million and 8.60 million head, respectively.

To obtain an accurate measurement of the US swine industry, NASS surveyed over 6,500 operators across the nation during the first half of September. The data collected were received by electronic data recording, mail, telephone and through face-to-face interviews. All surveyed producers were asked to report their hog and pig inventories as of 1 September, 2018.

The Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report and all other NASS reports are available online