News
Combined cattle, hog herds expand in U.S., Canada
The USDA says the combined hog and pig inventory in the U.S. and Canada at the start of June 2020 was 93.634 million head, up 4% on the year. Most of the inventory is in the U.S. at 79.634 million head, a jump of 5%, with Canada’s herd at 14 million head, slightly higher than the year before. That combined total includes a market herd of 86.1 million head, 5% above the June 2019 total, and a breeding herd of 7.57 million head, a year to year decline of 1%. The pig crop came out at just 84.2 million head, up 3%, while the number of sows farrowed during the first half of 2020 was 7.56 million head, 2% higher.
The combined cattle inventory on July 1st was 115.235 million head, a slight year to year rise, with all cows and heifers that have calved at 45.983 million head, 1% lower. 103 million head of those cattle were in the U.S., also up slightly on the year, while Canada’s inventory was 12.235 million head, a decrease of 1%.
The USDA’s next set of U.S. hogs and pigs and cattle on feed numbers are out in September.