Source:  Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 12/31/09

U.S. inventory of all hogs and pigs on Dec. 1, 2009, was 65.8 million head, down 2 percent from Dec. 1, 2008, and down 2 percent from Sept.1, 2009, according to USDA's latest Hogs and Pigs report.

Breeding inventory, at 5.85 million head, was down 3.5 percent from last year and down slightly from the previous quarter. Market analysts on average expected a 3.4 percent decline from a year ago, according to a survey of analysts before the report by Dow Jones

Market hog inventory, at 60.0 million head, was down 2 percent from last year and down 2 percent from last quarter.

The September-November 2009 pig crop, at 28.8 million head, was up slightly from 2008. This was a larger pig crop than analysts' average expectation that the pig crop for the period would come in around 98.8 percent of last year, rather than just over 100 percent.

Sows farrowing in the September-November period totaled 2.97 million head, down 2 percent from 2008. Analysts expected a 3 percent decline.

The average pigs saved per litter was 9.70 for the September-November 2009 period, compared to 9.50 last year. The litter rate equaled the record for pigs saved per litter set during the June-August 2009 period.

U.S. hog producers intend to farrow 2.95 million sows during the December 2009-February 2010 quarter, down 2 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2009. Intended farrowings for March-May 2010, at 2.94 million sows, would be down 3 percent from actual farrowings in the same period in 2009.

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