Costs of Future Welfare, Environmental Regulations to Dutch Pig Farmers
New regulations on animal welfare and ammonia emissions due to come into effect in the Netherlands in 2013 will cost €240 per fattening pig place and €500 per sow, according to a new report from the Agricultural Economics group of Wageningen University Research. And with fewer than 60 per cent of farms in a financial position to make the necessary investments, pig numbers could fall significantly. The report is summarised by Jackie Linden, editor of ThePigSite.