Big Drop in Danish Breeding Gilts
DENMARK – While the overall pig population was almost unchanged on 1 January 2012 from a year previously, there are 11 per cent fewer young animals kept for breeding than at the beginning of 2011.
5 March 2012
3 minute read
By: Statistics Denmark has published the results of the pig census conducted on 1 January 2012. The count is based on a sample of approximately 2,500 farms.
The total population is 0.4 per cent higher than a year previously. The number of slaughter pigs over 50kg is slightly down, while the groups ‘piglets with sows’ and ‘weaned pigs under 50kg’ have increased slightly.
As for the breeding herd, the number of sows was 2.2 per lower than the first quarter of 2011. The number of gilts pregnant for the first time is down 4.4 per cent, and there has been an 11.4 per cent fall in the number of pigs over 50kg destined for the breeding herd – from 239,000 to 203,000.
| Number of pigs by type and time ('000) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | 2011–Q1 | 2011–Q2 | 2011–Q3 | 2011–Q4 | 2012–Q1 |
| Pigs, total | 12,293 | 11,932 | 12,549 | 12,693 | 12,348 |
| Boars for breeding | 11 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 11 |
| Pigs (over 50kg) for breeding | 229 | 211 | 217 | 211 | 203 |
| Pregnant gilts to farrow for the first time | 203 | 193 | 192 | 195 | 194 |
| Other sows to farrow | 604 | 592 | 605 | 613 | 595 |
| Barren sows | 40 | 38 | 38 | 41 | 41 |
| Sows with litters | 210 | 211 | 212 | 216 | 206 |
| Piglets | 2,412 | 2,462 | 2,493 | 2,545 | 2,456 |
| Weaners under 50kg | 5,204 | 5,156 | 5,417 | 5,441 | 5,337 |
| Pigs for slaughter, >50kg | 3,374 | 3,053 | 3,360 | 3,413 | 3,299 |
| Sows and boars for slaughter | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Seasonally adjusted total pigs | 12,239 | 12,288 | 12,473 | 12,469 | 12,291 |
