The U.S. hog population is down 5 percent from year-ago numbers, the government said in a quarterly report that showed the impact of the deadly Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus. There were 62.1 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms on June 1, the lowest number since 2007 for that point of the year. One gauge of PEDV, which has killed 8 million piglets, is the number of piglets saved per litter – 9.78 for the March-May period vs 10.31 for the same three months in 2013.
The hog inventory figure and the pigs-per-litter figure were smaller than traders expected, said Reuters. USDA said earlier this month that hog producers would market hogs at heavier weights to offset piglet losses.
Heavier hogs may be the most practical action for hog producers, writes David Hennessey in the Agricultural Policy Review. Market prices for hogs are high now but futures prices for spring 2015 have been markedly lower, which could discourage farmers from expanding their breeding herds. Over the past couple of decades, cattle and hog producers have boosted the slaughter weight of their animals as a way to make more money per head. Hennessey says “this trend may strengthen over the near future, and especially so if PEDv continues to affect litter size.”