National & World Ag News Headlines USDA to Conduct Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Survey USAgNet - 11/06/2009 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is gearing up to conduct its largest quarterly survey of the pork industry. During the first two weeks of December, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will contact nearly 13,000 pork producers, including contractors, for the Hogs and Pigs Survey. “Through these quarterly surveys, NASS can measure and report trends in the U.S. pork industry over the course of the year,” said Kevin Pautler, Director, NASS Pennsylvania field office. “The program enables NASS to provide timely, accurate and unbiased data that all sectors of the U.S. pork industry depend on to help make sound business decisions,” added Pautler. Producers will be asked to report their market hog and breeding stock inventories, as well as their farrowing intentions as of Dec. 1. Information provided by survey respondents is confidential by law. “NASS uses the information for statistical purposes only, thereby safeguarding the privacy of all responses,” he stated. "To make it as easy as possible for producers to participate, we offer the option of responding by mail, telephone, Internet or personal interview,” Pautler said. Survey results are published in NASS’s quarterly Hogs and Pigs report, to be released December 30, 2009. NASS also publishes national estimates of the number of hog operations by herd size groups and percent of inventory in the Farms, Land in Farms and Livestock Operations report in February, 2010. Copyright © 2009 - USAgNet.com. All Rights Reserved.