Texas Hog and Pig Press Release

March Hog and Pig Inventory Up 11 Percent from a Year Ago

Issue: PR-120-08
Released: March 28, 2008
For information contact: Charles Drain or Joey Owsley

The March 1, 2008 Texas hog and pig inventory, at 1.08 million head, was up 11 percent from March 2007.

The number of breeding hogs totaled 115,000 head, up 15,000 head from last year, according to figures released by the Texas Field Office.

The March 1 market hog inventory was up 11 percent from a year ago at 965,000 head, 89 percent of the total hog and pig inventory. The inventory of market hogs weighing less than 60 pounds, at 330,000 head, was up 5 percent from the previous year. The inventory of hogs weighing 60 to 119 pounds, at 190,000 head, was 7 percent below the March 2007 inventory. Market hogs weighing 120 to 179 pounds totaled 200,000 head, an 8 percent increase from last year; hogs weighing 180 pounds or more, at 245,000 head, were up 48 percent from the previous year.

The December 2007-February 2008 Texas pig crop totaled 468,000 head, an increase of 17 percent from last year. Pigs per litter averaged 9.00, up 1 percent from the previous year. State Director, David Abbe, reported that 52,000 sows farrowed in Texas during December 2007 through February 2008, up 16 percent from last year.

The U.S. inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1, 2008, is estimated at 65.9 million head, up 7 percent from a year ago but down 2 percent December 1, 2007. The breeding hog inventory, at 6.14 million head, was up less than 1 percent from last year but down slightly from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 59.8 million head, was up 7 percent from last year, but down 2 percent from last quarter.

The U.S. pig crop for December 2007-February 2008, at 28.1 million head, was up 6 percent from 2007. U.S. producers intend to have 3.05 million sows farrow during the March-May 2008 period, up slightly from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2007. Intended farrowings for June-August 2008, at 3.04 million sows, are down 2 percent from the same quarter in 2007.