The United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1 was at 62.9 million head, the lowest it has been since 2007. The swine inventory numbers were released in the USDA Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report, released on March 28.
The hogs and pigs inventory number of 62.9 million head is a 3 percent decline from March 1, 2013, and a 4 percent decline from December 1, 2013. Shayle Shagam, USDA livestock analyst, said the report clearly reflects that porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus has impacted U.S. swine numbers.
The USDA Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report also showed the average pigs saved per litter was 9.53 for the three-month period from December 2013 through February 2014, a year-over-year drop of almost five percent, close to what most analysts were expecting, Shagam said in a USDA radio interview. PED virus had not yet been discovered in the US during the December 2012-Feburary 2013 period.
