March 12, 2007

High production costs hit Dutch pig industry
 

Dutch pig producers are losing money due to high costs for feed and manure disposal, according to a Dutch agricultural newspaper. Breeding pig farms in the Netherlands saw their incomes fall in 2006, while slaughter pig producers earned the same as in 2005, according to provisional figures.

Average prices for piglets and slaughter pigs reached the highest level for five years, but this was not enough to offset the increased production costs. Dutch pig producers paid 125 percent more for manure disposal in 2006 than in 2005, while feed prices were up by between 2.5 percent and 7.2 percent.

Dutch accountancy firm Abab estimates that the average producer prices for Dutch slaughter pigs in 2006 was 1.39 euro per kilogramme (/kg) slaughterweight (up 6 percent on 2005). The net return when costs were deducted was minus 2.00 euro per kilogramme. In 2005 this figure was minus 3.00/kg. In the breeding pig sector, the average net return fell by 31.5 euro to 61 euro per sow. Return per sow fell by 5.8 percent to 276 euro on closed farms.

Pig breeding farms obtained an average price for piglets of 46.51 euro last year (5 percent up on 2005). However, this added to the costs of the slaughter pig concerns. The technical performance of the farms surveyed improved significantly last year. Sows gave birth to an average of 24.1 piglets, an increase of 0.6 over 2005.