According to reports from the Danish Federation of Agricultural and Food Industries (L&F), Danish pig farmers have significantly reduced their stocks this spring.
As of April 1, 2019, 18 million pigs were kept in this northern country, which is 558,000 animals or 4.4 percent less than a year earlier. The reduction in livestock began in late January of this year.
A reduction in livestock compared to the previous year was found in the last sample survey of approximately 1,850 farms of all categories, in particular for fattening pigs with a minus of 252,000 animals to 5.68 million heads, or 8.5%. The number of piglets weighing less than 20 kg decreased by 4.4 percent year on year to 2.54 million; however, the number of runners weighing from 20 kg to 50 kg was only 2.3% lower and amounted to 5.69 million.
According to statisticians from Copenhagen, Danish producers also significantly reduced the herd of sows. Overall, the number of female animals decreased by 57,000 animals, or 4.5 percent, to slightly less than 1.22 million in April 2019 compared with the April 2018 survey.
The number of pregnant animals decreased by 4.7 percent to 755,000; the number of non-pregnant sows decreased by 4.7 percent to 460,000.
A decrease in the number of pigs, along with an increase in the number of pigs and pigs exported abroad, also led to a significant decrease in the number of slaughter of pigs in Denmark from January to early May compared to the same period last year by 4.8 percent.
