May 1, 2008

Denmark sees 10-percent drop in pig herd as feed costs rise

The number of pigs in Denmark has dropped by 10.4 percent from April 1 2007 to April 1 2008, according to the country's statistics department.

Though a decline was widely anticipated, the drop was much larger than expected, according to Claudi Lassen of Danske Slagterier trade association.

Low profitability and high feed costs were probably to blame, according to Lassen.

However, he pointed out that the drop was not as steep for sows farrowing for the first time (-2.8 percent) and pigs for breeding (-4.7 percent).

This shows farmers are reorganizing their stock which would improve competitiveness in the long run, he added.