US pig numbers down

By Bethan Wilkins

Latest figures from the USDA show that pig numbers on 1 December were 4% lower than a year earlier at 74.2 million head.

Within this, the number of breeding pigs was up slightly from last year while the number of pigs being raised for slaughter was lower and drove the overall decline. Compared to the previous quarter, the breeding herd was also slightly smaller.

The decline in US pig numbers was larger than anticipated by US industry analysts, as despite a difficult 2020 good prices were achieved by US pig producers in 2021.  

The pig crop during the September-November quarter was down 4% on the year before at 33.7 million head. The number of pigs weaned per litter was 11.19, which although higher than the average of 11.05 achieved the year before, was not enough of an improvement to offset a 5% decline in the number of sows farrowed during the quarter.

Intended farrowings for the December-February quarter are expected to be a little higher than during the same period a year earlier, though this is still 8% below the same period two years ago. Intended farrowings for the spring quarter are down 1% from 2021. Altogether, these figures don’t point towards much recovery in the US pig crop this year.

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