COUNTRY FOCUS
Innovation is needed – more than ever
The pig industry in the Netherlands is known for being innovative. Some of this innovative spirit is dearly required to keep the country’s pig industry going in the 21st
century. Pig farming in the Netherlands is advanced, but also has to be squeezed in a densely pop By Ruud Peys, correspondent S 25,000 Farms 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,00 0 2000 2002
Source: CBS Landbouwtelling; Factsheet Pig Production, July 2016. 2003
2001 2005 2007 2004 2006 2008 2010 2009 2012 2011 2014 2013 Pigs Average number pigs (numbers) 13,000,000 12,500,000 12,000,000 11,500,000 11,000,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500
tructural changes are needed to strengthen the position of pig farmers in the Netherlands and to offer all players in the Dutch pig industry, from feed and genetics to retail, a viable future. Of the existing 5,000 pig holders, only some 2,000 can
survive. Pig farmers have to start to produce what the mar- ket requires, seek more co-operation and enter into con- tracts with the companies that process their animals and market the meat. This might eventually lead to a reduction of the Dutch pig inventory, although it is not stated as a goal in itself.
Figure 1 - Number of farms, number of pigs and average amount of pigs per farm in the Netherlands.
pigs 13,500,000 3,000
Those are the main conclusions of the so-called ‘Action Plan to Revitalise Pig Farming’, put together by a group of experts from the pig industry, the Dutch government and Rabobank under the chairmanship of Prof Dr Uri Rosenthal, a former foreign secretary. For the newly erected ‘Dutch Association of Pig Farmers’ (POV), the aim is to save an industry which has been in crisis for quite some time. The pig farming sector in the Netherlands employs over 26,000 people, has an annual production value of more than €8 billion and an export value of €5 billion. It is therefore an important economic pillar. In addition, the Netherlands is over 250% self-sufficient for pork and therefore has to export more than half of its production, making the country extra dependent on the economic conditions of foreign markets both in the EU and elsewhere. Over the last few years, the Dutch sector has lost its edge, leading to less profitability, a high debt burden and other problems. The pig sector also blames the government’s gold-plating of EU regulation, in particular for animal welfare and environment. Last but not least, the intensive pig industry produces a large amount of manure which is costly to remove and process.
12.6 million pigs in the Netherlands The Dutch pig herd at this moment comprises some 12.6 mil- lion animals of which over 1.2 million are sows and boars. That number has been stable for a longer period of time now, according to a fact sheet of the Union of Dutch Pig Producers (NVV). However, the number of pig farms has decreased rap- idly from over 14,000 in 2000 to just over 5,000 now. The main reason is a lack of successors, since children of pig farmers like to choose a career outside the sector. Other farms disappear because a planned expansion or modernising of the
10 PIG PROGRESS VOLUME 32, No. 6, 2016
Average number of pigs (numbers)
Pigs (numbers)
Farms (amount)
PHOTO BERT JANSEN
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