October 30, 2007

Fires at Danish Crown caused Denmark's pig population to rise 8 percent 

Denmark's pig herd has grown 8 percent to 14 million heads compared to October last year, according to Dutch newspaper Agrarisch Dagbladtoday.

The newspaper based its report on the Central Statistics Office in Copenhagen.

Despite the increase of 312,000 heads, sow numbers have remained stable.

The growth was a result of a backlog of pig slaughters caused by two fires at slaughter plants at Danish Crown, the main pork production company in the country, the paper reported.

Danish Crown accounts for 90 percent of the pork in the country.

To clear the backlog, the company has offloaded pigs to the German slaughter industry, raising exports 20 percent from the usual.