October 15, 2010

Belgian pig farms down almost 5%

The number of farms having pigs in Belgium has shrunk by 4.6% in comparison to last year.

A recent provisional count in Belgium revealed that the country has 5,879 farms, of which 5,125 were spotted in Flanders, the northern part of the country-which mostly consists of flat countryside.

However, the total number of pigs grew slightly by 1.2% to almost 6.4 million animals. The majority of this number, over 6 million, can also be found in Flanders. The most growth was seen in finisher pigs.

Total numbers of finishers heavier than 50kg reached more than 2.8 million-a 2.2% year-on-year increase.

Breeding pig stocks have come down, however. The number of boars dropped by 9.9% to almost 6,800 animals. This is related to the growing Artificial Insemination practice in Belgium. In addition, the number of sows went down by 2%.