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Wisconsins declining hog industry got another dose of bad news when a federal report showed that the states hog and pig inventory was reduced by 15,000 head in 2013.

The December hog report by the National Agricultural Statistics Service that was released last Friday showed that the state houses 305,000 hogs, the lowest count for the past 150 years.

The state inventory has declined 32.2 percent since 2007, according to NASS data.

Its an uphill struggle, said Dave Wachter, Grant County UW-Extensions dairy and livestock agent, who co-authored a report last year on the state hog industry.

Besides showing the 5 percent decline in total hogs from 2012, the NASS report showed that breeding hogs declined 15 percent since 2012 and market hogs declined 3 percent.

Wisconsins hog farm numbers were the worst among Midwest states that included Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota.

The increasing cost of feed has been a killer to the state hog industry, Wachter said.

He also said that it takes a substantial investment to start, or keep, a hog farm going in a state that has a lack of infrastructure such as slaughterhouses, specialized veterinary care and suppliers.

Most people dont want to make that investment. And lets face it: People dont want them as neighbors, Wachter said.

The national inventory of hogs and pigs was down 1 percent from December 2012 and 2 percent from September 2012. That is a clear sign that the highly infectious Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus is affecting farms across the country, an industry expert said.

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State hog numbers continue to plummet