United States-The pig industry.

UNITED STATES-5% DROP IN PIG NUMBERS.

On March 1, there were 19.3 million hogs and pigs on Iowa farms, the USDA said in its quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report Friday afternoon. The March 1 inventory was up 1 percent from a year ago, but down 2 percent from December 1, 2008.

The December 2008-February 2009 pig crop was 4.70 million head. A total of 490,000 sows farrowed with an average litter size of 9.60 pigs per sow. As of March 1, producers planned to farrow 490,000 head of sows and gilts in the March-May 2009 quarter.

Farrowing intentions for the June-August 2009 period were estimated at 480,000 as of March 1, 2009.

United States : U.S. inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1, 2009 was 65.4 million head. This was down 3 percent from March 1, 2008 and down 2 percent from December 1, 2008.

Breeding inventory, at 6.01 million head, was down 3 percent from last year and down 1 percent from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 59.4 million head, was down 3 percent from last year and down 2 percent from last quarter. The December 2008-February 2009 pig crop, at 28.2 million head, was down 1 percent from 2008 but up 7 percent from 2007. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.98 million head, down 3 percent from 2008 but up 3 percent from 2007.

The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 50 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was 9.48 for the December 2008-February 2009 period, compared to 9.24 last year. Pigs saved per litter by size of operation ranged from 7.30 for operations with 1-99 hogs and pigs to 9.50 for operations with more than 5,000 hogs and pigs.

U.S. hog producers intend to have 2.96 million sows farrow during the March-May 2009 quarter, down 3 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2008 and down 2 percent from 2007. Intended farrowings for June-August 2009, at 2.95 million sows, are down 4 percent from 2008 and down 6 percent from 2007. The total number of hogs under contract owned by operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 45 percent of the total U.S. hog inventory, up from 40 percent last year.