Interpretation of the USDA Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report.

The Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report published by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service provides survey-based estimates of the total swine herd inventory in the United States. This report provides quarterly inventory estimates for the 17 major hog producing states that account for nearly 95 percent of the total U.S. inventory.

The data reported in the report is collected through a random sample of about 9,300 U.S. pork producers. The report disaggregates the all Hogs and Pigs inventory number into the breeding herd and market hog categories. These two categories are subdivided further to include a range of weight groups of market hogs and data reflecting breeding, farrowing and production efficiency in the brreeding sector.