In 2023, the 36 U.S. pork companies with more than 25,000 sows collectively kept 4,164,376 sows—69% of the national breeding inventory—but reduced their total by 17,348 from the year before. At the same time, producers reported improving output per sow. The figures are a historical snapshot from a May 2024 report, not a description of current conditions.
What the 2023 Pork Powerhouses figures cover
Successful Farming’s 2023 ranking included 36 companies, each with more than 25,000 sows. Their combined 4,164,376 sows equaled 69% of the U.S. breeding inventory, using the USDA quarterly Hogs and Pigs report released December 22, 2023, as the comparison. The ranking therefore describes large-scale operations, not every U.S. hog producer.
Companies collectively had 17,348 fewer sows in 2023 than in 2022. The publication called this the first net decline since 2010, but cautioned that the earlier comparison used a top-25 list while the 2023 ranking included operations above 25,000 sows. The lists are not identical, so the long-term comparison should be read with that difference in mind.
Why sow numbers fell
The report described an industry under financial pressure. Iowa State University’s Estimated Livestock Returns model put the average 2023 loss at $31.57 per finished hog. It also reported an estimated April loss of $57.97 per 270-pound hog. These are model estimates cited by the publication, not a record of what every producer actually earned or lost.
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Bob Ruth, then president of the National Pork Board and a past president of Country View Family Farms, summarized the pressure: “I don’t have to tell you, the industry is hurting right now from a profitability standpoint,”
Financial stress was not the only explanation for company-level changes. The report attributed individual decisions to factors including high production costs, farm sales, disease-risk choices and conversions related to California’s Proposition 12 requirements. Those explanations came from companies and industry sources; they do not establish one cause for the overall decline.
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How productivity could rise while the sow count fell
A sow count measures breeding inventory, not the number of pigs produced or the profitability of an operation. Producers told the publication that improvements in genetics, along with continued investment in herd health and biosecurity, helped them produce more pigs per sow. Zack McCullen III, Prestage Farms’ vice president of swine production, said: “We have less sows producing basically the same number of pigs, maybe even more,”
That distinction helps explain how a company or the industry could reduce breeding stock without reducing output in the same proportion. It does not mean every farm achieved the same productivity gains or that higher productivity eliminated losses. Rob Brenneman, owner of Brenneman Pork, put the production emphasis succinctly: “Production is key. No question.”
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The net reduction across the ranked companies masks substantial variation. Pipestone Management reported the largest increase, adding 60,612 sows. Other listed operations expanded or cut numbers, with reported explanations including acquisitions or management changes as well as productivity and site decisions. A change in sow inventory alone does not reveal how much pork a company produced or whether it was profitable.
Smithfield’s figure requires a separate qualification: the company did not provide an updated 2023 count to Successful Farming. The publication used an industry-source estimate of about 810,000 sows, down from an estimated 885,000 in 2022, following liquidations of Missouri farms. The 2023 number was an estimate, not a company-confirmed count.
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What the report’s 2024 outlook does—and does not—show
Successful Farming described 2023 as the worst profit year recorded by Iowa State’s Estimated Livestock Returns model. It also noted that the model’s 2024 outlook improved from an expected loss in early January to a forecast near break-even in late February. Those were forecasts made at the time, not final results or current projections. The movement illustrates how quickly feed, production costs and market conditions can change the economics of hog production.
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