Dutch pig population decreases by more than 2 percent

The pig population in the Netherlands decreased by approximately 2019% in 2,4 compared to 2018. This is apparent from the preliminary figures of the 2019 Agricultural Census of Statistics Netherlands (CBS). In addition, the Netherlands has approximately 3,2% fewer pig farms. It is striking that the number of pigs per farm has increased.

The Dutch pig herd will amount to 2019 million pigs in 12,13, which is 2,4% lower than in 2018 (12,43 million). Most pigs are still located in the province of North Brabant. This municipality has 5,75 million pigs this year, compared to 5,95 million last year (-3,3%). The province of Limburg is invariably in second place. The number of pigs in this province is 1,93 million, which is about 1,9% less than last year (1,97 million). Gelderland is in third place, with 3 million pigs. The top 3 is therefore unchanged since 2016.

There are also provinces where the number of pigs has increased in the past year. An example of this is the province of Overijssel. The number of pigs there will be 2019 million in 1,57, compared to 1 million 1,56 year earlier (+0,5%). The number of pigs has also increased in the past year in the provinces of Groningen (+4,4%), Zeeland (+12,2%) and North Holland (+2,3%).

Also fewer pig farms
The number of pig farms has also decreased in the past year declined, by 3,2% to 4.056 to be exact. Incidentally, the decrease is mainly visible in the so-called 'large pig provinces'. In the province of Noord-Brabant, the number of pig farms fell by 7,9% to 1.410 and in Gelderland by 3,6% to 940 farms. Increases are especially visible in the 'smaller pig provinces'. For example, the number of pig farms in the province of North Holland increased by no less than 36,5% to 52 farms; 1 year earlier there were 33. In Friesland an increase of 29% to 69 pig farms is visible.

Although the number of pigs and pig farms has decreased over the past year, the number of pigs per farm has increased. In 2019, an average of 2.992 pigs were kept on 1 farm, compared to 2018 in 2.970 (+0,7%). The increase in scale in the Netherlands is therefore continuing. In the largest pig province in the Netherlands, Noord-Brabant, the number of pigs per farm has increased by 4,2% to 4.085 pigs. In Limburg the increase is slightly more moderate (1,9%), bringing the number of pigs per farm to 4.746.

It is striking that the number of pigs per farm in the smaller pig provinces has decreased considerably, while the number of pig farms in those areas has increased. In the province of North Holland, the number of pigs on 1 farm has decreased by 53,8% to 435. This means that this province has on average the smallest pig farms from The Netherlands. A considerable decrease is also visible in Friesland. In that province, the number of pigs per farm fell from 2.288 to 1.598, a decrease of more than 43%. In other words: in these provinces more and more smaller pig farms are being created.

Limburg has largest companies
Although Noord-Brabant is the province with the most pigs and the most pig farms, the Limburg pig farms have the largest size. Of the pigs in Limburg (1,9 million), 71% are on a pig farm that keeps more than 5.000 pigs. This is approximately 1,3 million pigs. In the province of North Brabant, this percentage is 66,7% (approximately 3,8 million pigs). It is striking that the third place is taken by Groningen. In this province, 64,7% of all pigs are on a farm with more than 5.000 animals. On average in the Netherlands, that percentage is 60%, which is about 7,2 million pigs.

The number of farms with more than 5.000 pigs is also the largest in the province of Limburg. In this province, 31,4% of the farms have more than 5.000 pigs, which is approximately 128 farms. In North Brabant this concerns 26,2% of the companies: about 369 companies. These 2 provinces are followed by Groningen (16,4%), Drenthe (14,7%) and Overijssel (14%). Of all pig farms in the Netherlands, 17,9% keep more than 5.000 pigs (728 farms).

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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