Sow numbers in South Dakota are up 15,000, according to the March 25 USDA's Hogs and Pigs Report.

"This is the first time since 1995 that the USDA has reported 190,000 sows in the breeding herd inventory for South Dakota," says Bob Thaler, South Dakota State University Extension swine specialist.

Using a conservative number of 25 pigs born to each sow in a year, Thaler estimates that the additional 15,000 sows will produce 375,000 pigs annually. The additional market hogs will consume more than 3.5 million bushels of corn and 21,356 tons of soybean meal.

USDA doesn’t estimate the number of sows on North Dakota farms.

About 15,000 more sows, like this one with her litter of pigs, are on South Dakota farms this year than last year.

For an analysis of the USDA estimate, see a report by Mike Brumm, of Swine Consultancy, Inc., North Mankota, Minn., at http://igrow.org/up/general/11374.pdf.

Source: SDSU Extension