US pig meat production up 5 percent in January

U.S. pig meat production totaled 1.99 billion pounds, up 5 percent over 2011 numbers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest livestock report. Hog slaughter totaled 9.54 million head, 5 percent above January 2011. Iowa had the most hogs slaughtered, with 2.544 million head. North Carolina and Minnesota rounded out the top three, slaughtering 963,900 and 918,800 hogs, respectively. These numbers were all up over the states' January 2011 totals of 2.477 million head (Iowa), 909,600 head (North Carolina) and 829,700 head (Minnesota).  The average live weight was unchanged from 2011 numbers, at 278 pounds, while the total live weight for January came in higher, at 2.65 billion pounds compared to January 2011's 2.53 billion pounds.