Report: Pigs per litter increase
National Pork Board provides update on industry
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-Submitted photo
Lee Schulz is an Iowa State University economics professor.

-Submitted photo
Lee Schulz is an Iowa State University economics professor.
AMES — On Sept. 26, the National Pork Board, a producer-led organization, held a webinar concerning hog numbers in the third-quarter USDA Hogs and Pigs Report. The group also provided updates on the state of the global pork industry during the online meeting.
Lee Schulz, an Iowa State University economics professor and ISU Extension economist, said that hog numbers in the new report were 76.48 million head, which is half a percent greater than in the third quarter of 2023 and in line with expectations. The kept for breeding category was 6.04 million head, 2.2% below last year. Market hog inventory was 70.4 million head, 0.7 higher than a year ago, but slightly below predictions.
Sows farrowing from June to August were down 1.7% compared to the year-ago level. Schulz said pigs per litter continued with record estimates, up 0.9% compared to the year-ago level at 11.72 for June through August.
“If we take the sows farrowing numbers and the pigs saved per litter numbers that gives a pig crop of 35.030 million, which is 0.8% lower than a year ago but right at where pre-report expectations were at,” Schulz said. “When looking at the implications of the market hog inventories, for June 1 the actual slaughter was up 2% compared to a year ago. For the year, hog slaughter is up 1.2% at just over 1.1 million compared to 2023.
“One number I’d like to highlight that doesn’t get a lot of attention is the percent of total U.S. hog inventory owned by contractor operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees,” said Schulz. “In 1996, that was just over 20% of the hog population. Today, it’s 53% which is the highest number we’ve seen since the data has been collected.”
Hog weights have been higher for producer-owned hogs. Looking at the average of 2015-19, Schulz said the industry continues to see higher weights. This may need some adjustment as producers consider market timing. Schulz said the current projection for pork production in 2024 is 27.9 million pounds, which gives a record pork production per breeding animal.
“We are at historical productivity levels,” he said. “We are continuing on this new trajectory where we are seeing year-over-year increases that we resumed after the 2020 period.”
Total hog inventory for Iowa was up 2.41% compared to a year ago, the breeding herd was down 2.17%, and market hog inventory slightly increased by 0.69%. Iowa’s litter rate of 11.95 pigs per litter was above the U.S. litter rate of 11.72 pigs per litter, which continues to reflect the typical relationship.
Schulz said there are several factors that affect the health of the hog market, and litter size can be one of those factors.
“With higher weights and more pigs per litter, we need fewer breeding animals,” said Schulz. “The market should expand and contract to keep up with supply and demand and sometimes a response is delayed, which can cause issues in the market.”