Minnesota is closing in on North Carolina to be the second-largest hog-producing state in the nation.
According to new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Minnesota's pig population on Dec. 1 was 8.9 million, or 400,000 more than a year earlier. The state is now producing only 200,000 fewer hogs than North Carolina.
Iowa is by far the largest hog state, with 23.3 million pigs.
The hog-industry growth is along the Interstate 90 corridor in southern Minnesota and farther north along the South Dakota border, said Greg Boerboom, a hog producer near Marshall.
Hog production in Minnesota makes sense because hog manure is useful in corn country, and hog farmers need corn, Boerboom said.
"North Carolina as a state is kind of maxed out. They don't have land to put the manure on," Boerboom said. "Their manure is more of a by-product, whereas in Minnesota manure is a valuable commodity."
The largest growth in Minnesota came from the Pipestone System in Pipestone, Minn. The company is now the third-largest hog producer in America and added 11,000 sows in 2018, according to Pork Powerhouses, the annual list produced by Successful Farming magazine.
The next-largest Minnesota hog producers are Christensen Farms and Schwartz Farms, both in Sleepy Eye, and then Holden Farms in Northfield and New Fashion Pork in Jackson.