European Pig Herd Still in Decline
EU - The European pig herd is continuing to fall. Even though it is falling at a much slower rate, it means British prices will stay higher for longer.
24 September 2009
2 minute read
The European breeding herd dropped one per cent between May 2008 and May 2009.
Belgium and France are both down over 2 per cent, Hungary is down nearly 7 per cent and Poland is down nearly 4 per cent.
Bucking the trend are Denmark, up 3.2 per cent; United Kingdom, up 5 per cent; and Holland up 1.7 per cent.
Gilts-not-yet-covered data from national surveys suggest the decline is continuing throughout 2009 — down over 6 per cent in Germany, 8.5 per cent in Spain and 4 per cent in France, but up 13.8 per cent in Holland. The Dutch herd defied gravity throughout most of the 2007-08 feed price cisis.
The following is based on returns from the May surveys of 14 European Union member countries:
Total pigs: -1 per cent
Piglets -1.2 per cent
Young pigs -2.6 per cent
Sows -1 per cent
Mated sows -0.5 per cent.
