Inside Pigs
Significantly fewer sows in many countries
The sow herd in many large production countries is declining. In Europe it is striking that there are mainly fewer pregnant sows. In China, a year of bad prices left a significant gap in production.
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The number of sows in the EU-13 fell by 0,9% to 10,1 million, according to Eurostat's May/June census. The pig herd is showing growth and has grown by 1,7% to 126,8 million pigs. These 13 countries, with the exception of France, contain all the major ones production countries including.
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The growth of the pig herd is being driven by countries such as Spain, Denmark and Poland. The pig population in Spain is distancing itself from that in Germany. The number of pigs in Spain increased by 5,2% to 30,1 million, while the population in Germany shrank by 1% to 26,8 million. The Danish pig herd is also among the growers, increasing by more than 3% to 12,8 million. This also applies to Poland where the number of pigs increased by 4,2% to 11,8 million.
Growth in the Netherlands (+0,9% to 12,5 million) is quite modest. The growth of the population in Belgium (+1,5% to 6,1 million) is growing faster in percentage terms. In the United Kingdom, the pig herd grew by 1,2% to 5,02 million.
Fewer pregnant sows
The rule of thumb used by Wageningen Economic Research (WUR) is that a contraction of 2% ensures stabilization in piglet production. This is due to increasing sow productivity in a number of European countries.
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Based on the number of pregnant sows, a leveling off of production is obvious. The number of pregnant sows shows a decrease of 2% to 6,9 million. The shrinkage (-3,2% to 1,67 pregnant sows) in Spain is striking. In Germany there are 2,4% fewer pregnant sows, bringing the total to 1,36 million. The number of pregnant sows has fallen by 1% to 700.000.
Both Spain and Germany are important sales markets for the Netherlands. The shrinkage provides space on paper for additional sales. At the same time, the number of pregnant sows in Denmark grew by about 3% to 793.000. The Danes are a formidable competitor in terms of piglet exports.
China shows decline
In China, the number of sows has fallen by 1% in one year, according to the August count of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture. The decline is the result of a period of poor prices. Relatively many 'backyard farmers' have thrown in the towel. The effect of African swine fever is very small in this count, because the animal disease was only recently discovered.
The Chinese pig herd recorded a minus of 2,4% in August, compared to 1 year earlier. Compared to the month of July, there was a decrease of 0,3%. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture does not provide exact animal numbers.