A lot of stoppers in German pig farming

The German pig herd has shrunk sharply again in recent months, according to figures from the statistics service Destatis based on the May census.

Compared to the 2021 count, the total number of pigs has decreased by 9,8% to 22,3 million. In exact numbers, this amounts to a shrinkage of 2,41 million pigs. Compared to the census in 2020, there is a contraction of 12,5%, which means that there has been a significant decline, especially in the past twelve months.

The number of sows decreased by 100.000 to 1,5 million compared to last year's count. The low prices in recent months are at the root of the contraction. 

Many companies stopped
The number of pig farms is also shrinking rapidly. Last May 17.900 companies were active compared to 19.800 companies last year. About ten years ago, there were more than 30.000 pig farms in Germany.

The contraction in German pig farming is also clearly reflected in the slaughter figures. For months, the weekly slaughter figure has been hovering around the level of 750.000 slaughter, whereas not so long ago this number was often close to or even above a million.  

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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