NASS March 2026 Hogs and Pigs Report: U.S. Inventory Edges Up to About 74.3 Million Head

Lance Honig, chair of the Agricultural Statistics Board at the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), opened a livestreamed March briefing and introduced the presenters and USDA officials in attendance.

Travis Averill, identified in the briefing as chief of the NASS livestock unit, said the March 2026 quarterly hogs and pigs survey sampled 4,252 operations across 28 states, with data collection running Feb. 28–March 16 using mail, telephone, internet and face-to-face interviews. "A total of 4,252 operations were surveyed," Averill said.

The most current March 1 estimate for all hogs and pigs was 74,300,000 head, a 0.4% increase from the previous year, Averill reported. "For March 1, all hogs and pigs is at 74,300,000 head, up 4 tenths of a percent from previous year inventory," he said. He said breeding hogs were estimated at 5,892,000 head (down about 0.5% year over year) while market hogs were about 68,400,000 head (up 0.6%).

The briefing reviewed recent revisions: September inventory was revised up 1.3% to a current estimate of 75,400,000 head; the June–August pig crop was revised up 2.8% to 35,000,000 head; and the December quarter showed a small net decrease (about 0.2%) in the all-hogs-and-pigs estimate. Averill described the revision process as based on final pig crop data, official slaughter records, death loss and updated import/export figures.

Averill presented weight-group breakouts for market hogs: under 50 pounds at about 20.9 million head (up 0.2%), 50–119 pounds at 18.8 million (up 0.1%), 120–179 pounds at 15.9 million (up 0.2%), and 180 pounds and over at 12.9 million (up 2.5%). He also reported sows farrowing for Dec. 2025–Feb. 2026 at 2,789,000 head (down 42,000 from a year earlier) and noted first intentions for March–May 2026 at roughly 2,904,000 sows (down about 61,000 year over year).

The briefing highlighted sow productivity: the Dec.–Feb. pig crop was 33,177,000 head and pigs weaned per litter averaged 11.9, up from 11.65 in the prior year; NASS described this as one of the highest rates for that quarter though slightly below the previous quarter's 11.93 figure.

On trade, Averill said Canadian imports of feeder pigs and slaughter hogs rose to 1,841,000 head in 2026 from 1,767,000 in 2025 (a 4.2% increase). He said feeder pigs accounted for about 72% of those imports (approximately 1,317,000 head) and slaughter hogs about 28% (about 524,000 head), with slaughter-hog imports up about 13% from 2025.

Averill also reviewed price data: 10-year charts for hog and corn prices were shown through January, and he noted February price data would be released on March 30 in the agricultural prices report. He summarized six-month hog-to-corn ratios and said a historical breakeven is near 15, indicating recent ratios suggested generally favorable conditions for producers.

The briefing closed with a schedule of upcoming NASS releases (agriculture prices March 30; crop production April 9; cattle and feed April 17; annual livestock April 22; monthly livestock April 23; meat-animal and PDI reports at month-end) and an announcement that USDA's spring data users meeting would be held April 22 in Kansas City as a hybrid event. Averill directed viewers to the NASS website and said staff are available for follow-up questions.

The Office of Management and Budget's statistical policy and NASS release procedures were cited at the start of the briefing; Honig reminded the audience that public comment on the report's content is restricted within 30 minutes of release and that NASS staff would handle questions after the session.

Next steps: the scheduled NASS publications and the March 30 agricultural prices release will provide additional monthly and quarterly context to the figures presented at the briefing.