News Pigs
Smaller pig farms in particular are stopping
The pig population has decreased again somewhat in 2024. The number of pigs has decreased by 2,6% to 10,56 million. This is evident from figures from the agricultural census published by Statistics Netherlands. Because relatively many smaller companies have closed down in recent years, pig farms have more animals on average.
According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the termination scheme and the subsidy scheme for pig farming restructuring (SRV) have contributed to the decline in the number of pigs since 2020.
The number of farms with pigs fell by 3,5% compared to 2023, to almost 3.000. In seven years, the total number of pigs decreased by 14,9%, but the average number of pigs per farm increased by 19% to 3.400. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), this is mainly due to the fact that relatively small farms have stopped keeping pigs in recent years.
Nearly half of pigs in North Brabant
Almost half of the number of pigs is located in North Brabant. There, the number of pig farms has decreased by 2017% since 37, while the number of pigs has decreased by 18%. The (Brabant) municipalities with the most pigs are Land van Cuijk (646.000) and Venray (518.000).
Also remaining livestock population smaller
The number of dairy cows and veal calves also declined in 2024, by 1,9% to 1,5 million and 1,7% to just over 1 million respectively. However, the number of veal calves increased by more than 2017% compared to 5. The number of sheep fell sharply, mainly due to the bluetongue virus, by almost 13%.
Linda van Eekeres
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