Inside: Pig Market
A lot of future for Dutch sow farmer
"The German piglet sets the tone on the piglet market," says Marko van Asten, propagator in Brabant and Limburg. A Dutch multiplier with a German piglet has a lot of future. More than about 3 years ago. "There are opportunities for stayers."
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Van Asten has had a good spring, but has noticed that the extreme demand for piglets is now decreasing slightly. Despite this, the sale of piglets that go exclusively to Germany is still going well. Van Asten: "If you want to serve the German market, you have to deliver kilos and quality."Â A 22-kilo piglet will then not work. According to Van Asten, a German buyer demands piglets of at least 27 to 28 kilos. "For us, this means at least 4 weeks of weaning and at least 4,5 piglet places per sow," says Van Asten, who aims for 5 piglet places per sow.
50
euros per piglet
Fixed surcharges Â
Van Asten says that he delivers his piglets on the German quotation with fixed supplements all year round. "This means that we will not receive a supplement of €14 per piglet in the spring, but neither will we drop back to the basic price in the summer." Van Asten expects the German piglet price to fall to approximately €57 in the coming weeks. per piglet, to stabilize in August. These are still great prices. "In a normal year, we calculate with a price of €45 to €50 per piglet, without supplements." According to the propagator, this is also necessary, because the production of 30 kilos of piglet easily costs €50 . "Anyone who takes depreciation into account and wants to invest will arrive at this cost."
German propagator pulls out
The fact that more and more breeders are breeding for the German market has an influence on the Dutch piglet price. According to Van Asten, the Dutch piglet price will rise to the German quotation in the spring. According to Van Asten, the reason that the German piglet price is tighter in the summer is not only due to the flexible supplement system. "German propagators have to deal with increasing regulatory pressure. This creates uncertainty and leads to quitters and fewer successors."Â This offers opportunities for Dutch propagators.
Future for Brabant stayers
According to Van Asten, a Dutch propagator therefore certainly has a future. "If you ask me, that was more than 3 years ago."Â There will probably also be a standstill in Brabant, because of the increasing regulatory pressure. In terms of pricing, this does not have to turn out badly for the stayers. Nevertheless, Van Asten is fully committed to quality. "A multiplier is severely punished if the piglet quality is not in order. We therefore impose about 10% of our piglets, or the remaining flocks, ourselves," says van Asten.