May 4, 2006

Hog numbers in the UK fall as those in other European countries rise

High welfare standards and low prices are strangling the UK pig industry, according to The Herald newspaper in England.

There are now 541,000 sows in the UK, according to the December 2005 census. Numbers have fallen by 6.5 percent on-year and there is little sign that the trend abating. Sow numbers fell by 120,000 in just six years as major retailers increasingly favour cheaper, imported products.

The total pig herd in the EU, according to figures from Brussels, remains broadly unchanged at 152 million head. However, the numbers have shifted in the EU, with Poland having increased numbers while numbers in Denmark  and the Netherlands are falling.

In Poland, the total number of breeding sows went up last year by 10 percent to 1.8 million while in Denmark, the breeding herd has fallen by 4.1 percent to 1.4 million sows. In the Netherlands, the number of sows has slipped by 2.2 percent to 1.1 million.

Spain is the largest pig producer in the EU with a breeding herd of 2.6 million sows.

Sow numbers have generally become smaller in the EU-15 member states, but herd sizes are expanding in the 10 new member countries.

The UK has been steadily losing processing capacity. In 1999, there were 19 specialist plants handling more than 100,000 pigs per year. Now there are 15 and more may close if numbers continue to fall.

Last year, total UK production of pig meat was just over 700,000 tonnes, down by 12 percent on the 2002 figure.

Average pork prices have slipped from 119.9 p/kg (US$2.20) 10 years ago to 102p/kg (US$1.87) last year.