September 11, 2007

Spain's pig industry in crisis as farmers unable to afford feed

Spanish producers are struggling to stay in business as feed prices escalate and the market for weaners and finished pigs continues to decline.

The price of 5kg suckling pigs is around half of what they were fetching at the beginning of the year.

The collapse of weaner prices was brought about by the fact that producers would finding it difficult to rear their pigs to slaughterweight due to the doubling of feed prices. Many farmers are now selling weaners into the suckling pig market, which is now seeing oversupply.

Spain has seen a near 40-percent drop in the number of pig farms in recent years, with the number of pig farms falling from 8,000 to just 5,000 in the past five years. 

Pig producers in the EU are having difficulty adjusting to the higher feed prices, with producers in Germany, France and the UK and a host of other countries calling for retail outlets to raise their offer prices as feed prices continue to climb.