News Income estimate
Pig farmer cashes in after lean decades
It can freeze and it can thaw in the pig sector. While a sow farmer had to add an average of €13.000 last year, the earnings this year are in the hundreds of thousands of euros. This is shown by the income estimate of Wageningen Economic Research (WUR).
Never before have pig farmers farmed as well as this year. The WUR estimates the average income at €257.000 per unpaid annual work unit. A closed pig farm earns approximately €327.000 and a sow farm will have €245.000 left at the end of this year. Despite the sharply increased piglet price, the income of fattening pig farmers also rises to above €200.000. The earnings may be even higher. The estimate is based on the situation until the beginning of November, after which prices have risen sharply.
Pig farmers cannot afford a 'footballer's salary' every year. During the period 2000 to 2018, the average income in pig farming was only €26.000, which is below the poverty line according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The good years therefore serve as compensation for lesser years. In addition, a pig farmer has to invest heavily.
Question from China
The reason for the high pig and piglet prices lies largely in China. That country has been hit by African swine fever, which has almost halved the pig population. "We are talking about a decrease of more than 200 million pigs. In other words: 25% of the worldwide production of pork", says pig production economist Robert Hoste of WUR.
China is therefore short of large volumes of European pork and that is pushing up prices. Hoste estimates that the coming years will remain good, provided that the Netherlands and Germany are not affected by an outbreak of the virus. The danger is just around the corner: in Western Poland, the disease will be over at the beginning of this month only 40 kilometers found in Germany.
Wouter Job
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