Denmark's pig industry old and new challenges
In Denmark 4,600 farms rd. 12.9 million pigs. The average 2,800 animals per holder. Self-sufficiency in pork is approximately 650%. Pork exports amounted to 5% of the total exports of Denmark. A functioning export is vital for the industry. In principle, the Danish pig industry dominates a cooperatively organized battle company Danish Crown with 90% market share. 48,000 people are employed in the pig industry.
But the country has problems. The high livestock density allowed no significant increase for years. To better exploit the scarce space, increasingly used towards the production of pigs and the pigs in the country is constantly reduced. Recently, a slaughterhouse because of insufficient utilization was fully restored.
The battles in Denmark is due to the high wages expensive. There is no cheap foreign workers on minimum wage in Denmark. Make sure the trade unions.
Approximately 10 million piglets exported Denmark primarily to Germany and Poland. The pork industry has reacted to the repeatedly encountered cases of African swine fever (AFP) in Poland highly sensitive. Transport vehicles must be disinfected when returning to the border from top to bottom. 22,000 trucks day and night. Trucks that were in the Polish zone, must submit quarantine period after the disinfection wash for 48 hours before they must turn in the vicinity of pig attitudes. Before a swine operation is approached, the driver must completely change their clothes. The truck drivers are constantly trained by veterinarians in terms of infection and transmission risks. The Danish pork industry also has SPF - trucks, where even the air is filtered in order to keep bacteria and viruses. A possible plague burglary in Denmark would be a disaster for the industry and also the Danish economy as a whole.
Also the PEDv disease train in the United States is observed with a watchful eye. Prohibitions apply to livestock and with blood produced sausages. On the other hand, the declining production and the declining export of the United States the Danes open additional sales opportunities in the global competition. Danish Crown has diffused worldwide sales channels and maintains contacts in all over the world. In this way it succeeded the Danes, reasonably easy to cope with the Russian import lock.
A shock went through the pork industry as the new green Agriculture Ministers called for higher standards for animal welfare. Free-wheeling attitude not only for load-bearing, but also for farrowing sows in a transitional phase at least 10% of the sows up to 2020. The requirements for new buildings from 2015 and for all houses from 2035. At the same time the already low rate of mortality of piglets should shut down drastically. Sounds like squaring the circle.
Possibly one speculates that the highly indebted Danish pig farms to bring hardly the capital to build new stables. The reconstruction costs alone devour million amounts
