December 14, 2021

Belgium's Flemish government to set aside funds for pork marketing, support for pig farmers

The Flemish government of the Flemish Region of Belgium has decided to allocate additional funds to Flanders' Agricultural Marketing Board (VLAM) and Belpork for pork marketing and support for pig farmers.

Outbreaks of African swine fever, the COVID-19 pandemic and a sharp rise in raw material prices have severely disrupted the Flemish pork market.

In order to offer extra support to the sector in crisis, the Flemish government has decided to allocate €750,000 (US$846,366) of extra resources to VLAM for additional promotion domestically and abroad.

Belpork will receive an extra €6 million (US$6.8 million) for the BEPORK project to make the earning model for pig farmers less dependent on the number of pigs they produce and focus more on quality, sustainability and animal welfare. In order to encourage pig farmers to invest in this, they can receive compensation if they comply with a set of specifications that exceed the statutory standards in terms of sustainability or animal welfare.

- Vilt (Belgium)