There were 74.3 million hogs and pigs on farms in the United States on 1 March 2026, up slightly on March 2025 but 1% below the count of 1 December, according to the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report published on 26 March by the Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Of that total, 68.4 million were market hogs and 5.89 million were kept for breeding — the split that decides whether the herd grows or shrinks over the following year.

Between December 2025 and February 2026, 33.2 million pigs were weaned on American farms, 1% more than in the same three months a year earlier. Producers weaned an average of 11.90 pigs per litter over that period, and intend to farrow 2.86 million sows between March and May 2026 and 2.90 million between June and August.

Production remains heavily concentrated. Iowa held the largest inventory of any state at 24.7 million head, Minnesota was second with 9.30 million and North Carolina third with 7.60 million.

NASS surveyed 4,252 operators across the country during the first half of March to compile the figures, taking returns through its Respondent Portal, by post, by telephone and in face-to-face interviews.

A steady American pig herd matters to feed markets rather than to meat markets in Bangladesh: pigs are fed on maize and soybean meal, and a herd that is neither growing nor contracting keeps that share of world feed demand flat.

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service