Crisis brings Belgian pig sector together

The pig sector in Belgium is joining forces. Yesterday (19 October) various parties signed a letter of intent for the establishment of a new trade association. The aim is to emerge stronger from the crisis together. Collaboration is the key word here, with politics taking the lead.  

In the new branch organization all links in the chain are discussed. The agricultural organisations, the Algemeen Boerensyndicate and Boerenbond, the Federation of Belgian Meat and the Belgian Feed Association. These parties cover the feed industry, primary production and slaughterhouses. Retail is also conforming. 

The role of the government is also striking. For example, the organization of the trade association is in the hands of Hilde Crevits, the Flemish Minister of Agriculture and Food. The common interest of the various links is to fight the crisis.

Fighting Crisis
The Flemish Minister of Agriculture speaks of a serious market failure in the pig sector. She mentions a cocktail of factors that underlie this. In September 2018, our southern neighbors unexpectedly loomed African swine fever (ASF) and it has gone downhill since then.

Due to imposed export bans, Belgium was unable to take advantage of the high Chinese demand for pork in recent years. Then came the corona crisis and feed prices have risen sharply in recent months. Earnings are therefore under severe pressure. 

Sustainability and market concepts
Combating the crisis is the short-term goal. The sector organization then wants to develop a future-oriented vision for more perspective. The spearheads are sustainability and the creation of added value through market concepts, which are somewhat predictable themes.

At the Flemish level, €16 million was recently released to provide some relief to the affected pig farmers. Crevits also hopes for European support, but Euro Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski does not seem to be interested in that. The intention is that the trade association will become operational in November.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is Head of Meat & Dairy at BoerenbusinessAt DCA Market Intelligence, he focuses on dairy, pork, and meat markets. He also monitors (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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