The US inventory of all hogs and pigs on March 1 was down about 2% from a year ago and down about 3% from Dec. 1, said the USDA’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report Wednesday.
All categories making up the total of all hogs and pigs in the US herd were down from a year ago except for pigs saved per litter, which were up 0.0%.
ALL HOGS DOWN
The total number of hogs and pigs in the US March 1 was 72.209 million head, down 1.937 million, or 2.61%, from 74.146 million on Dec. 1 and down 1.724 million, or 2.33%, from 73.933 million on March 1 2021.
Of that, 6.098 million were kept for breeding, down 27,000, or 0.44%, from 6.125 million last quarter and down 117,000, or 1.88%, from 6.215 million last year.
Another 66.111 million were classed as market hogs, down 1.910 million, or 2.81%, from 68.021 million on Dec. 1 and down 1.607 million, or 2.37%, from 67.718 million a year earlier.
MARKET HOGS DECLINE
The USDA report showed declines in all weight groupings of market hogs. Those weighing less than 50 pounds numbered 20.045 million, down 1.129 million, or 5.33%, from 21.174 million the previous quarter and 193,000, or 0.95%, down from 20.238 million a year earlier.
Market hogs weighing 50 to 119 pounds totaled 18.765 million head, down 420,000, or 2.19%, from 19.185 million on Dec. 1 and down 373,000, or 1.95%, from 19.138 million on March 1 a year ago.
Hogs weighing 120 to 179 pounds tallied up to 14.833 million head, up 519,000, or 3.63%, from 14.314 million last quarter but down 542,000, or 3.53%, from 15.375 million last year.
And those weighing 180 pounds or more on March 1 came to 12.468 million head, down 880,000, or 6.59%, from 13.348 million last quarter and down 498,000, or 3.84%, from 12.966 million a year ago.
FARROWINGS DOWN
The number of sows that farrowed in the December-February period totaled 2.901 million head, down 28,000, or 0.96%, from 2.929 million in the same quarter a year ago and down 281,000, or 8.83%, from 3.182 million in the quarter ended March 1, 2020.
The December-February pig crop came to 31.750 million head, down 309,000, or 0.96%, from 32.059 million a year ago and down 3.266 million, or 9.33%, from 35.016 million two years ago.
The average number of pigs saved per litter in the latest quarter was 10.95, up 0.01, or 0.09%, from 10.94 a year ago but down 0.05, or 0.45%, from 11.00 two years ago.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $138.00 to $140.00 per cwt, compared with last week’s range of $136.00 to $141.52. FOB dressed steers and heifers went for $216.58 to $218.46 per cwt, versus $216.09 to $220.18.
The USDA choice cutout Wednesday was up $2.04 per cwt at $266.54, while select was up $2.62 at $257.46. The choice/select spread narrowed to $9.08 from $9.66 with 66 loads of fabricated product and 18 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA reported that basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.45 to $1.55 a bushel over the May futures and for southwest Kansas were steady at $0.00 over May, which settled at $7.38 a bushel, up $0.11 3/4.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Tuesday was $155.41 per cwt up $0.12. This compares with Wednesday’s Mar contract settlement of $156.97 per cwt, down $0.72 and Apr’s $163.67, down $0.67.