Livestock census Nov. 2017: more fattening pigs, unchanged sow population
The pig census conducted by the Federal Statistical Office on November 3, 2017 revealed a 1.3% increase in the pig population compared to the previous year.The growth is almost exclusively due to the increase in fattening pigs. At 1.9 million animals, the number of sows in Germany has changed only marginally compared to the previous year.
The number of pig farmers fell by -3.7 %, while the decline among sow farmers was as much as -4.5 %.Above-average reductions in pig farming were recorded inRhineland-Palatinate (-6.5%), Hesse ( -3.2%), Brandenburg ( -4% ) and Lower Saxony ( -2.6%).
The decline in sow farms was particularly large in Brandenburg (-4. 5%), Rhineland-Palatinate ( -4.4%), Thuringia (-3.5% ) and Bavaria (-2.9%). This was not always associated with a decline in animal numbers.
In general, the trend in Germany is continuing that the piglets required for fattening are increasingly coming from imports, with a focus on Denmark and the Netherlands.
The number of animals kept on the farms surveyed increased to an average of 1,172.
Around 45% of pigs are kept in herds of over 1,000 animals. Around 48 % of the animals are inthe herd size category 500 to under 1,000 pigs. In the category under 500 pigs, there are only 7% of the livestock recorded.
The average sow herd has risen to just under 230 animals per farm. Sow herds under 1,000 are managed by more than 50 % of farm managers, but they only have 17.5 % of all breeding animals recorded in Germany. Around 49 % of sow farmers have 82.5 % of the animals recorded in Germany.
The majority of pure fattening farms ( 35 % ) are in the category between 1,000 and under 2,000 housing units. As a rule, the cost degression of an individual stall is thus largely exhausted.
Despite little change in the total number of pigs, the structural change towards larger business units continues. Comparatively few new pigsties are being built, but rather acquired through changes in ownership.
