Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service

Gene Danekas, Director

For Immediate Release: June 24, 2005                                                     

Missouri Hog and Pig Numbers Below Year Earlier

(COLUMBIA, Mo.) - The June 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 3.4 percent from the 2.95
million head on hand a year earlier but unchanged from March 1, 2005.
"This is the lowest June 1 inventory since 1989 and the lowest quarterly
inventory since March 1994. We are seeing these lower inventory numbers
even though prices are comparable to last year", says Gene Danekas,
Director. Breeding hogs are estimated at 340,000 head, up 20,000 head
from a year ago and up 10,000 head from March 1, 2005. Market hogs are
estimated at 2.51 million head, down 120,000 head from a year earlier
and down 10,000 head from March 1, 2005.

The March - May 2005 pig crop was estimated at 1.55 million head, up
17,000 pigs from the same period a year earlier and 8,000 pigs above the
previous quarter. Farrowings, at 170,000 sows, were unchanged from a
year ago and last quarter. Pigs saved per litter, at 9.10 were up 0.1
pig from the 9.00 pigs saved a year earlier and increased 0.05 pig from
the 9.05 pigs saved the previous quarter.

Missouri hog producers intend to farrow 170,000 sows during June-August
2005, unchanged from the actual farrowings during the same period a year
earlier. During September-November 2005 hog producers expect to farrow
165,000 sows, down 5,000 sows from the number that actually farrowed in
September-November of 2004. 

U.S. Hog Inventory Up Slightly

U.S. inventory of all hogs and pigs on June 1, 2005 was 60.8 million
head. This was up slightly from June 1, 2004, and up 2 percent from
March 1, 2005. 
     
Breeding inventory, at 5.98 million head, was up 1 percent from both
June 1, 2004 and last quarter. Market hog inventory, at 54.8 million
head, was up slightly from last year, and up 2 percent from last
quarter. 

The March - May 2005 U.S. pig crop, at 25.9 million head, was up 1
percent from both 2004 and 2003. Sows farrowing during this period
totaled 2.87 million head, unchanged from last year. The sows farrowed
during this quarter represented 48 percent of the breeding herd. The
average pigs saved per litter was 9.02 for the March - May 2005 period,
compared to 8.93 last year. Pigs saved per litter by size of operation
ranged from 7.50 for operations with 1-99 hogs to 9.10 for operations
with more than 5,000 hogs and pigs. 

U.S. hog producers intend to have 2.90 million sows farrow during the
June-August 2005 quarter, virtually unchanged from the actual farrowings
during the same period in 2004, but down one-half of one percent from
2003. Intended farrowings for September-November 2005, at 2.88 million
sows, are unchanged from the same period in 2004, but up 1 percent from
2003. 

The total number of hogs under contract, owned by operations with over
5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 40 percent of the
total U.S. hog inventory, up from 38 percent last year.