By owning two units - sows in Denmark, finishers in Germany - Danish producers will be able to avoid Danish Crown’s low prices and at the same time keep control of their production, right through to slaughter.

German producers have been doing better than Danish producers in recent years and as a result German banks are willing to lend money for investment in finisher production.

It will cost around 33m for a Danish producer to get established in Germany with slurry storage for the progeny from an 800-sow unit in Denmark.