December Hogs and Pigs - Backgrounder

NASS Programs

2013 December Hogs and Pigs
Survey

About the Survey

How NASS Collects Data

Who Uses the Information?

The December Quarterly
Hogs and Pigs survey gathers
information from pork producers
in the United States.

During the first two weeks of
December, NASS will send the
survey to approximately 10,000
pork producers, including
contractors with the capacity to
raise breeding or market hogs.

Pork producers, analysts,
agribusinesses, and others use
data from the hogs and pigs
survey as a critical decisionmaking tool.

USDA’s National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS)
conducts the quarterly hog
survey in March, June and
September collecting hog
information in the 29 largest
hog-producing states, which
together account for over
95 percent of total U.S. inventory.
The December survey covers all
states in the nation.
NASS will release the results of
the survey on December 27,
2013. All reports are available
on the NASS website: www.nass.
usda.gov/Publications/index.asp.

Response Confidentiality
All information NASS collects in
this survey will be kept strictly confidential, as required by
federal law. The results of this
survey will be available in aggregate form only, ensuring that no
individual operation or producer
can be identified.

The survey collects market hog
and breeding stock inventory,
farrowing intentions, and the
latest pig crop.
Producers who receive the survey
may respond in either of the
following ways:
• Online – Secure, online
reporting is the most timely,
cost-effective option.
The cover letter includes
instructions for this easy
option.
• By mail or fax – Producers fill
out the survey questionnaire
and return it in the envelope
provided or via fax.
A NASS representative will
contact producers who do not
respond to offer the option of a
telephone or personal interview.

United States Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service

• Livestock producers and
feeders rely on NASS reports
to evaluate a wide range of
information when making
decisions on purchases, sales,
and capital investments.

• Producers also use the upto-date production and
inventory information to
anticipate supply- and
demand-based pricing.

• Analysts use data on
breeding stock inventory,
farrowing intentions, the
latest pig crop, and average
litter size to forecast the
expansion and contraction
of pork production.

• Processors, warehouses,
storage companies, and the
transportation sector rely
on the reports to anticipate
future volume.

www.nass.usda.gov