(NAFB) – As of December 1, U.S. farms held 74.2 million hogs and pigs, a four percent drop from the same time in 2020.

It’s also a one percent drop from September 1, 2021. Those numbers come from the latest Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report published by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Of those 74.2 million hogs and pigs, 68 million were market hogs, and just over six million were kept for breeding. Between September and November of this year, U.S. farmers weaned 33.7 million pigs, down four percent from the same period in 2020.

Hog producers also weaned an average of 11.19 pigs per litter. U.S. hog producers intend to have 2.94 million sows farrow between December 2021 and February 2022. They’ll also have just over three million sows farrow from March to May 2022.

Iowa had the largest inventory among the states at 23.8 million head, followed by Minnesota at 8.9 million.