United States: Swine inventory shows slight increase through March 2026

March 26, 2026 | Department of Economics and Sustainability, 333 Latin America.
USDA - NASS Quarterly Hogs and Pigs | https://usda.library.cornell.edu/

10-Apr-2026 (1 months 28 days ago)

We present the highlights of the latest U.S. swine inventory report, published by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on March 26:

: <p>Figure 1: U.S. swine inventory as of March 1, 2026, figures in millions of head, year-over-year changes.</p>

<p>Prepared by the Economics and Sustainability Department of 333 Latin America using data from USDA-NASS</p>

As of March 1, 2026, there were 74.3 million head (Mh) of swine on farms in the United States, representing a slight increase of 0.4% compared to March of the previous year and a drop of 1.5% compared to the consolidated total of December 1, 2025 (75.4 Mc).
Of the total 74.3 million pigs, 68.4 million were fattening hogs, while the remaining 5.89 million were breeding sows.

Between December and February 2026, 33.2 million piglets were weaned on US farms, representing a slight increase of 0.6% compared to the same period of the previous year.

An average of 11.9 piglets per litter were weaned during the December-February 2026 period, 2.1% higher than in the same period of the previous year (11.65).

U.S. hog producers intend to reach an inventory of 2.86 million farrowing sows between March and May 2026, and 2.90 million between June and August 2026.

Iowa hog producers accounted for the largest inventory among the states with 24.7 million, followed by Minnesota with 9.3 million and North Carolina with 7.6 million.