News pig stock
Number of German breeding sows historically low
The number of German pig farmers has fallen by 4,6% this year to 22.400 heads. It was striking that the sow farmers in particular threw in the towel. Due to this decrease, Germany has the lowest number of pigs in 15 years and the country has a historically low number of breeding sows.
Figures from the German statistical office Destatis show that the number of breeding sow farms has fallen by 6% to 7.800, leaving 22.400 pig farms in Germany. That is 1.100 fewer than last year. Of these 1.100 farms, 700 were finishing pig farms and 600 were breeding sow farms.
As a result, there are also a lot fewer breeding sows. This number shrank by 3,8% to 1,8 million, a new low. As a result, the number of piglets also decreased; this year there were 312.000 less piglets than last year, which is a decrease of 3,9%.
Total pig herd decreases
The pig herd in Germany has also fallen considerably; by 4,1% to 26,4 million pigs. Due to this decrease, the number of pigs in Germany is at its lowest level since 2004.
It is striking that the number of finishers is going against the trend, as this number remained virtually the same compared to 2017. Germany now has 11,9 million finishers, but this could possibly fall due to the low number of piglets.
Response ISN
The ISN (the German representative of pig farmers) did not find these figures from Destatis surprising, because the outcome is in line with the research that the advocate published this summer. It stated that half of sow farmers in Germany plan to stop within 10 years.
Tim Roetman
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