Many German sow places are going to disappear

Half of sow farmers in Germany plan to stop within 10 years. This is apparent from a survey by the ISN (the representative of the German pig farmers). Political policy is the main reason for greeting.

The survey, which was conducted among more than 600 sow farmers, shows that no less than 52% see no future prospects and will therefore stop within 10 years. About 1 in 6 respondents say they will throw in the towel within the next 2 years. In the south of Germany, even 1 in 3 say they will stop soon.

The main reason for stopping is the laws and regulations in Germany. In Germany, for example, from 2019 there will be a ban on the castration of piglets without anaesthetic; this entails a lot of uncertainty.

Many sow places are disappearing
It is mainly the smaller companies that see no future. Nearly 85% of the farms surveyed (in the category up to 150 sows) say they want to stop gradually. Of the larger sow farmers (from 600 sows), 79% say they want to continue. In some cases this is forced, because of investments made.

The research also shows that 12% of the respondents do see growth opportunities. The ISN has passed on the survey and it shows that 20% to 25% of the sow places will disappear in the coming years. With an equal number of finishing pig places, this means that piglet imports have to double to 20 million per year. In theory, Dutch exports could benefit from this, given that our country is the largest supplier of piglets in Germany.

Trend as deployed
The first signs of contraction are already visible. German federal states regularly report a declining pig population. At the last count (June) the sow herd had decreased by 2,4% to 1,85 million.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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