The U.S. Department of Agriculture is surveying farmers to compile the state hog and pig inventory.

The USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service will soon begin mailing the questionnaires to producers selected for the survey. NASS interviewers will contact producers who do not respond by mail or online to conduct telephone and personal interviews.

The data gathered in the survey allows NASS to measure and report conditions and trends in the pork industry.

“Pennsylvania inventory of all hogs and pigs on Dec. 1, 2018 was 1.31 million head. This was consistent with the Sept. 1, 2018 inventory, and up 1 percent from June 1, 2018,” said King Whetstone, director of the NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office.

The information is used by all sectors of the industry, including producers themselves, to help make sound and timely business decisions. NASS will publish the survey results in the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report, which, along with all NASS reports, are available online at www.nass.usda.gov.