Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service

Gene Danekas, Director

For Immediate Release: March 24, 2005

Missouri Hog and Pig Numbers Below Year Earlier

(COLUMBIA, Mo.) - The March 1, 2005 inventory of Missouri hogs and pigs
is estimated at 2.85 million head according to the USDA's Missouri
Agricultural Statistics Service. This is down 1.7 percent from last year
and December 1, 2004. "As the consolidation of hog operations continues,
the March 1 numbers indicate the lowest quarterly inventory in Missouri
since 1994 ", says Gene Danekas, State Statistician. Breeding hogs are
estimated at 330,000 head, unchanged from a year ago but down 10,000
head from December 1, 2004. Market hogs are estimated at 2.52 million
head, down 50,000 head from a year earlier and down 40,000 head from
December 1, 2004.

The December 2004-February 2005 pig crop was estimated at 1.54 million
head, up slightly from the same period a year earlier and 1.1 percent
above the previous quarter. Farrowings, at 170,000 sows, were unchanged
from a year ago and last quarter. Pigs saved per litter, at 9.05 were up
slightly from the 9.00 pigs saved a year earlier and increased 1.1
percent from the 8.95 pigs saved the previous quarter. 

Missouri hog producers intend to farrow 165,000 sows during March-May
2005, 5,000 fewer than actual farrowings during the same period a year
earlier. During June-August 2005 hog producers expect to farrow 170,000
sows, the same number as were actually farrowed in June-August of 2004. 

United States Hog Inventory Up 1 Percent

U.S. inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1, 2005 was 59.9 million
head. This was up 1 percent from March 1, 2004, but down 1 percent from
December 1, 2004.

Breeding inventory, at 5.94 million head, was down slightly from both
March 1, 2004 and last quarter. Market hog inventory, at 54.0 million
head, was up 1 percent from last year, but down 1 percent from last
quarter.

The December 2004 - February 2005 U.S. pig crop, at 25.5 million head,
was up 2 percent from 2004 and up 4 percent from 2003. Sows farrowing
during this period totaled 2.85 million head, up 1 percent from last
year. The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 48 percent of
the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was 8.94 for the
December 2004 -February 2005 period, compared to 8.85 last year. Pigs
saved per litter by size of operation ranged from 7.50 for operations
with 1-99 hogs to 9.00 for operations with more than 5,000 hogs and
pigs.

U.S. hog producers intend to have 2.87 million sows farrow during the
March-May 2005 quarter, unchanged from the actual farrowings during the
same period in 2004, but 1 percent below 2003. Intended farrowings for
June-August 2005, at 2.88 million sows, are down 1 percent from the same
period in both 2004 and 2003. The total number of hogs under contract,
owned by operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees,
accounted for 39 percent of the total U.S. hog inventory, up from 37
percent last year.