Remediation: a lot of enthusiasm, but will everyone stop?

The restructuring scheme in pig farming has been massively oversubscribed. However, the question arises whether every pig farmer who has signed up with his company will actually hang his boots on the willow. The registration is without obligation.

The government has made a total of €180 million available for warm remediation, as it is called. Up to and including today (Wednesday 15 January) pig farms can still register to be eligible for the stopping scheme.

It is now clear that 503 pig farms registered for the scheme. On paper, that is more than the budget allows. The coming months will show how many and which pig farmers qualify for the stopper subsidy.

Registration is without obligation
Still, the question is whether every registered pig farmer will actually stop. The registration is without obligation and the costs are manageable. Various advisors therefore called on you to sign up and in any case not to miss the boat. The high enthusiasm is therefore not a good indication of the actual willingness to quit.

Whether or not pig farmers will eventually step in will probably depend a lot on earnings this year. Robert Hoste, economist pig production at Wageningen Economic Research (WUR), recently expressed this view in an interview with Boerenbusiness.

Will pig prices stay good?
Pig and piglet prices rose sharply in 2019 due to a major meat shortage in China. As a result, earnings were extremely high in the past year, according to the income estimate of the WUR. Expectations for 2020 are positive in advance, although the quotations in January do show a declining pattern.

For some entrepreneurs in pig farming it will therefore probably be a matter of deliberation between whether or not to stop. Others have already indicated that the decision to stop is final. In this period, however, it is not yet possible to estimate what the ultimate impact of the stopping scheme will be for Dutch pig farming.

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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