the us hog herd has fallen to its smallest yearend size in five years according to data from the department of agriculture in the usdas latest hogs and pigs report released quarterly by the department the count of all hogs in the us as of dec 1 came in at 98 of where it was at the same time last year at 731 million head hogs for breeding were forecast by the usda were roughly the same as this time last year and hogs for marketing were forecast at 98 of this time last year the figures were bigger cuts than expected by livestock analysts  with allendale inc forecasting all hogs to be 985 of last years estimate while the livestock marketing information center forecast the total at 988 of last year in trading on the cme mostactive lean hog futures finished down 13 to 87925 cents per pound