The U.S. Hog Industry: Structural Change, Production Systems and Costs, and Manure Management

The hog production segment of the U.S. pork industry has experienced significant structural change over the past four decades. This study examines changes in the U.S. hog farm structure, using USDA’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) hog version data; USDA’s Census of Agriculture data since 1997; and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Census of Agriculture Data from 1982 to 1992 (focusing more heavily on the most recent USDA data). The 2020 ARMS hog version data are used to examine differences in costs and returns by farm size; hog management practices, housing types, and manure management practices used on hog farms; and the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on hog farms in 2020. Results show continued trends toward fewer farms producing more hogs, greater specialization in hog production, increased use of contracts, shifts in location of production, and increased hog farm productivity. Economies of size are found in U.S. hog production. In 2020, most U.S. hog farms used biosecurity practices, enclosed confinement housing, a deep pit manure system, and spread manure on cropland. About 6 percent of U.S. hog producers euthanized hogs in response to COVID-19 slaughter plant closures.