U.S. inventory of all hogs and pigs on June 1, 2010 was 64.4 million head, down 4 percent from June 1, 2009 but up 1 percent from March 1, 2010.
Breeding inventory, at 5.79 million head, was down 3 percent from last year but up slightly from the previous quarter. Market hog inventory, at 58.6 million head, was down 4 percent from last year but up 1 percent from last quarter.
The March-May 2010 pig crop, at 28.2 million head, was down 3 percent from 2009 and down 2 percent from 2008. Sows farrowing during this period totaled 2.87 million head, down 5 percent from 2009 and down 6 percent from 2008.
The sows farrowed during this quarter represented 50 percent of the breeding herd. The average pigs saved per litter was a record high 9.81 for the March-May 2010 period, compared to 9.61 last year. Pigs saved per litter by size of operation ranged from 7.70 for operations with 1-99 hogs and pigs to 9.90 for operations with more than 5,000 hogs and pigs.
U.S. hog producers intend to have 2.89 million sows farrow during the June-August 2010 quarter, down 2 percent from the actual farrowings during the same period in 2009 and down 6 percent from 2008. Intended farrowings for September-November 2010, at 2.90 million sows, are down 1 percent from 2009 and down 4 percent from 2008.
The total number of hogs under contract owned by operations with over 5,000 head, but raised by contractees, accounted for 44 percent of the total U.S. hog inventory, down from 46 percent last year.
About Harry Siemens
Harry's Bio - On the Edge with Siemens Says
Communicator extraordinaire Harry Siemens interacts with his vast agricultural audience through speaking, writing, and commentating. He creates an awareness of what’s happening in agriculture as an advocate of the farmer, and provides a rare edge, never afraid to express his own informed opinion. With his 41 years plus of experience, people respect, and trust him to provide always the most relevant and current farm information.
Harry Siemens comments on the news, motivates, gives his own opinions to the public everyday, as an independent farm communicator and farmer advocate through various media outlets.
As a motivational speaker, Harry can deliver a new speech everyday, taking any information and adapting it to the right situation. He integrates the current farm issues with motivation, and humour. He speaks to audiences ranging from the AGM of the U.S. Grains Council in Montreal to the local Farmers Marketing Club in Plum Coulee, MB or Sunhaven Farms in Kinsella, Alberta and many in between.
Harry Siemens, the journalist, is always on top of things, hearing it first, and then giving the news spiced with personal commentary. Along with his up-to-date website and e-newsletter FarmWatch, he writes for various publications across Western Canada and the U.S., including the AgriPost, Prairie Hog Country, and Western Dairy Farmer.
He also writes for hire, which goes back to adapting any information to any audience or situation.
Harry Siemens, the commentator, gives you more than the story. He provides the story with his own opinion and from a perspective on how it will affect the reader and/or listener directly
In the United States Harry appears regularly with Max Armstrong and Orion Samuelson on ‘This Week in Agribusiness’ seen and heard weekends on the RFD-TV Network giving the Canadian perspective. He works closely with Lynn Ketelson and Linda Brekke to share the issues that face producers in Canada on the Linder Farm Network heard on over 40 radio stations in Minnesota. Ratings show this to be the most listened to half-hour farm broadcast in the United States.
Harry Siemens, the communicator, integrates speaking, writing, and commentating, giving a clear picture of the big and small issues in layman’s terms. He reaches his audience through the ‘Net [SiemensSays.com] print, one on one, or on the radio, able to express his opinion, and keep everything fresh by Staying on the Edge.
USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs inventory update came out near pre-report expectations with the lowest as of June 1 hog herd in three years.