Minnesota hogs grow by 1 percent to 7.7 million

Minnesota hog producers had an inventory of 7.7 million hogs and pigs on Sept. 1, 2008, up 5 percent from last year and also up 1 percent from the June 1, 2008, figure, according to the Minnesota Field Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This equals the record high inventory for any quarter in Minnesota. Breeding hogs totaled 570 thousand head, down 7 percent from a year earlier and market hogs and pigs at 7.13 million head, were up 7 percent from a year ago.

Minnesota’s June 2008 to August 2008 pig crop totaled 2.79 million head, unchanged from a year earlier and up 1 percent from the March 2008-May 2008 pig crop. The 285,000 sows that farrowed averaged 9.80 pigs per litter, up from 9.50 a year ago.

Hog producers in Minnesota intend to farrow 275,000 sows during the September to December 2008 quarter. If realized, this would be down 7 percent from the same period a year earlier. Producers also intend to farrow 275,000 sows during the December 2008 to February 2009 quarter. If realized, this would be down 4 percent from the same period in 2008.