Archive:Pig farming sector - statistical portrait 2014
- Data from 2008, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
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Pigmeat is produced throughout the EU on several types of farms with considerable variations from one Member State to another. Three quarters of the pigs are reared by just 1.5% of the largest fatteners. Small pig producers are mostly found in the new Member States and are one of the reasons for the decreasing size of the herd. The tasks of pig rearing are distributed across farms and, in the main production basins, even across regions.
Main statistical findings
Regional data on livestock are more informative than national figures as a means of displaying the zones of pig production (Figure 1). The major production basin extends from Denmark to Vlaams Gewest (BE) and accounts for 30% of EU sows. However, there are other important regions, such as Cataluña, Murcia (ES), Lombardia (IT), Bretagne (FR) and some areas of central Poland and Northern Croatia.
Structure of the pig farms
The distribution of national herds by size is taken from the Farm Structure Survey (FSS). The pigs arerecorded in three categories, i.e. piglets, breeding sows and other pigs. The sows reflect the permanent pigherd and the other pigs are the pigs fattened before slaughtering (see methodological notes).
Herd size: other pigs
The distribution of the pig population by size of the pig herds (in numbers of other pigs) shows that 1.5% of pig farms have at least 400 other pigs and manage 75.7% of these (Figure 2) and 49.1% of the sows. These figures conceal national differences: only 21.6% of other pigs in Poland are kept in such farms as compared to the figure of 90% or more in nine Member States (IE, CY, DK, EE, ES, IT, BE, UK and CZ). On the other hand, the animals kept in small units of less than 10 other pigs are important in RO (66.2%), BG (34.8%) and LT (31.9%). At the EU level, although these small units manage 5.3% of other pigs, they account for 85.8% of the pig farms.
Herd size: breeding sows
Two types of pig farm may be distinguished based on the number of breeding sows: the fatteners and the breeder-fatteners. Almost half of the other pigs (47.3%) are kept by fatteners, i.e. on farms without sows. However, this particular figure hides a range of different situations: 77.2% of the other pigs are reared by fatteners with more than 400 animals, whereas 95.7% of the fatteners have fewer than 10 pigs, mainly for own consumption. More than half of these numerous small farms (57.2%) are in Romania.
Breeding sows, other pigs and herd size
Besides the numerous small fatteners, the other pigs are shared between three further significant types of farm. Of the largest farms with at least 400 other pigs, the pure fatteners and the large breeder-fatteners with at least 100 sows manage similar numbers of other pigs and the large breeder-fatteners feed almost half of the sow herd. A third group accounts for a quarter of the pig farms and manages one fifth of the other pigs and the remaining half of breeding sows.
The breakdown of other pigs among the four types of pig farm (Table 1) is shown by country in Figure 3.
• The small fatteners (no sows and fewer than 10 other pigs) represent a significant share of pig production and at least 10% of other pigs in seven of the new Member States (BG, LV, LT, HU, RO, SI and SK). The importance of own consumption in pig production limits the sensitivity of this type of production to market conditions.
• The large fatteners (no sows and at least 400 other pigs) account for more than one third of other pigs in ten countries (BE, DK, DE, ES, IT, LU, NL, FI, SE and UK). They reflect a production organised between specialised breeders (which nevertheless have other pigs) and fatteners. These 10 countries represent two thirds of the other pigs and three quarters of the EU pigmeat production. In FR and EE the distribution is intermediate between that typical of large fatteners or large breeders.
• The large breeders (at least 400 pigs and 100 sows) manage more than two thirds of the other pigs in five countries (CZ, IE, EL, CY and PT), where production is concentrated in a less organised production sector.
• The other pig farms manage more than two thirds of other pigs in MT, AT and PL, which reflects a certain level of concentration, but one which is limited by the farm size. SI, with almost half of the other pigs in such farms, also belongs to this group of countries.
Components of the pig herd
Geographic distribution
Pig production is concentrated in a few countries, with Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Poland having more than two thirds of the breeding pigs between them (December 2008 survey). At regional level (NUTS1), half of the breeding pigs are concentrated in eleven regions, all of which are located in these six countries. Naturally, the size of the countries and regions plays a role in this ranking.
In relative terms, the average share of pig production in agricultural output is highest in Denmark (29%), followed by Belgium (20%), Poland (15%), Malta, Cyprus (both 14%) and Germany (13%).
Structural differences between pig farms in EU-15 and NMS-12
Another striking feature (Figure 4) is the high proportion of sows in small herds in the 12 newest EU Member States (NMS-12). More than 98% of the sows are in farms with at least 10 sows in EU-15 as against 58% in NMS-12. According to FSS 2007, NMS-12 accounted for 22% of the breeding sows overall, but 91% of these sows were in small herds of one or two sows and 6% were in herds of 100 to 199 sows.
Components of the pig herd – types of animal
The livestock survey provides more detailed figures about the livestock population (see methodological notes). The number of sows or piglets determines the number of fattening pigs, which in turn determines the number of pigs to be slaughtered several months later.
The number of boars per sow (Table 2) reflects the frequency of artificial insemination, and also the importance of the herds in natural service. This shows how rapid genetic progress can be. One boar covers on average more than 50 sows in Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands, but fewer than 10 in Greece and Croatia.
The percentage of new sows (gilts) reflects the pressure to renew the breeding animals and is another determinant of genetic progress.
The pig population can be divided into two groups i.e. breeding pigs and meat pigs (Figure 5). The former provide the production factors for the latter. The breeding pigs are renewed by keeping young pigs from the previous year and slaughtering (culling) old pigs. The meat pigs can be sold at different stages as pigs to be fattened or as fattened pigs to be slaughtered.
Components of the pig herd – trade of live animals
The intra-EU exchanges (Comext) of pigs less than 50 kg amounted to around 200 000 tonnes in 2008. Assuming an average weight of 25 kg, this is equivalent to 8 million young pigs (Figure 6). This annual production, which represents a flow over year, cannot be compared directly with the population of young pigs at any given moment. Germany is the main importer of young pigs, with 77% of EU imports, and Denmark is the main exporter with 74% of EU exports. In addition, Germany is the main importer of breeding animals (46%) and Denmark is the main exporter (23%). Germany is also the main importer of non-breeder pigs weighing at least 50 kg, i.e. mostly for slaughtering (Figure 7).
It can be seen from these maps that pig production is specialized even across borders, with breeders such as Denmark, fatteners such as Spain and mixed producers such as the Netherlands. Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands form a single pig production area (see page 1).
Changes and trends
Changes in the pig population
The total number of sows represents the production capacity. Between 2006 and 2008, the number of sows fell by 10%. In the 12 New Member States the reduction was steeper (-27%) than in the 15 older Member States (-6%), with certain exceptions in each group. The decline was less marked in Estonia and Latvia in the first group and in Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal in the second group. In Greece the number of sows actually increased.
Such extreme changes are a combination of several phenomena, which have a varying impact depending on the structure of pig production. The general decrease concerns all countries, but the underlying phenomenon is one of concentration, i.e. an increase in the size of the largest herds together with the disappearance of the smallest. The trend is towards a decrease in the this change in the structure of pig production in NMS-12 can be expected to continue.
Figure 8 shows that the decrease in the number of sows is balanced by a gain in productivity. The number of piglets in EU-15 is even showing a slight increase.
The most recent data come from the livestock survey carried out in May/June 2009. These figures are provided by countries with at least 3 000 000 pigs, and the Member States concerned account for 85% of the EU pig population (according to the December survey). They show a yearly trend of -0.85% for sows, -0.56% for fattening pigs and -0.39% for piglets, i.e. -0.60% for all pigs. This rate of change is less marked than that observed in previous years (-3.79%) and indicates a lower rate of decrease. This would be comparable to the previous 5-year trend.
Changes in farm structure
The structural data allow us to distinguish three types of national trend, depending on the changes in the number of sows from large farms with at least 200 sows and of those from small farms with fewer than 10 sows.
• Concentration (Figure 9). In 15 Member States, large farms are accounting for more and more sows to the detriment of the smallest farms. The number of sows on small farms is barely falling, if at all. These Member States account for more than half (52%) of the EU sow herd according to the December 2008 livestock survey.
• Abandonment (Figure 10). The decrease affects pig farms of all sizes, including large farms in nine Member States. These account for more than one third (36%) of the sows surveyed in December 2008.
• Restructuring (Figure 11). In three Member States, the number of sows from small herds fell sharply and the number in the medium and large herds rose correspondingly. This can be interpreted as a re-organisation of production. These herds accounted for one out of eight EU sows (12.4%) according to the livestock survey (December 2008).
A change is discernible in all countries, but it can be regarded as a trend in only some of them. The third type could also be seen as a combination of the other two.
Changes in the types of pig farm
The number of small breeders follows the trend in the number of small farms, i.e. a general decrease, which is especially marked where there are proportionally more small farms. The number of pigs is falling at a similar rate, as there is a strong link between these two numbers.
The number of large fatteners is increasing apart from in a few countries. There, although the number of large farms is stable, their average size is continuing to increase. On average, between the 2003 and 2007 surveys in NMS-12, the number of pigs for the large fatteners doubled, with more extreme figures being seen at national level. At EU level, the increase was 16.4%.
Although the number of large breeders has increased in only a few countries, the average number of sows per farm increased in every country, except BG, AT and SI. The average number of other pigs increased everywhere except in LU, SI and AT.
In all but a few countries, the number of other pig farms decreased, as did the number of sows and other pigs. Since the 2000 survey, the number of sows in these farms fell steadily by 2.5% per year in EU-15.
Production of pigmeat
Pigmeat is produced from the slaughtering of live pigs produced in the country (gross indigenous production), i.e. excluding the pigs exported live, but including those imported live. Thus the correspondence between fattening and slaughtering is not exact (Figure 12).
Seasonal variations in production are due to lower sow fertility in summer. Pigmeat production shows an economic cycle (which is less than two and half years), although its impact on farmer decision is less than that of major economic changes or animal crises.
In 2008 pigmeat production in the EU-27 reached 259.6 million head (Table 2), of which more than half (54.4%) came from four countries (DE, DK, ES and FR). The EU foreign balance showed a surplus of 1.8 million tonnes (pigmeat and processed pigmeat), i.e. 7% of the slaughtering, but extra-EU trade represented only 14% of the national foreign trade (in volume terms). Four countries (DK, DE, NL and ES) contributed 62% to the total of extra-EU exports.
Finally, a statistical artefact also plays a role: the national statistics could cover domestic slaughtering, which has now been excluded for comparability purposes. Estimates have been used to minimise breaks in the series. Although the effect is concentrated in certain countries, it excludes about 7% of pigmeat production in EU-27.
Following the fall in the number of breeding pigs, production is also decreasing, and the GIP is expected to be around 250 million head in total for the four quarters of 2009 (Figure 13).
Market prices
The past few years have been difficult for pig producers in terms of profitability mainly owing to the high price of cereals and, to a lesser extent, of energy (Figure 14). In parallel, the price of pigs increased only slightly and the terms of trade (output-input) remained negative. The situation at the beginning of 2009 appears more optimistic, but cannot compensate for these difficult years.
Data sources and availability
Due to the different coverage of the FSS across Member States, the total number of farms is not comparable between countries. This is why the present analysis, including Tables 1-4 and the graphs focus on holdings of at least one European size unit (ESU).
The survey on the structure of agricultural holdings in Luxembourg was carried out in May 2007 on an exhaustive base, by the Luxembourg Central Statistical and Economic Studies Office (STATEC) in collaboration with the 116 municipalities of the country and the Rural Economy Office (Service d'Economie Rurale -SER).
The agricultural census has been conducted yearly since 1953. The reference date of the FSS 2007 was the 15 May 2007, however for the farm labour force characteristics the reference period covers the 12 preceding months.
The FSS relates to holdings whose utilized agricultural area is one hectare or more and those whose area is less than one hectare but produce for sale (including livestock) or have at least 100 m2 of vineyard. The target population was all the farms with an operating base located in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The list of holdings was updated and completed at municipality level prior to the census, data from the SER were also used to check the completeness of the population. Administrative sources from the SER were used to determine agricultural areas and livestock. The organic farming data were checked using data from the Administration of the technical services of agriculture in Luxembourg.
The data have been checked several times during processing: at municipality level (when collecting the questionnaires and when compiling the data) and then at a national level using software. The national data are checked against the municipal lists and tables from previous years. The no-response rate is not significant (0.5 %) and the missing data are imputed from previous surveys.
Between FSS 2005 and 2007 "maintaining land in good agricultural and environmental conditions" (GAEC) became an agricultural activity and the land concerned with this new activity has been included in the agricultural area. In Luxembourg it covers 260 ha, 96 % being in farms with at least one ESU.
For each activity (`enterprise`) on a farm (for instance producing wheat, dairy cow or vineyard), a Standard gross margin (SGM) is estimated, based on the area (or the head count of livestock) and a regional coefficient. The sum of such margins in a farm is its economic size, expressed in European size units (ESU). One ESU is equivalent to 1200 EUR SGM.
An 'annual work unit' (AWU) is equivalent to a worker employed on a full time basis for one year. In Luxembourg it is 2 200 hours (275 working days of 8 working hours per day) provided the person is between 15 and 80 years.
A 'livestock unit' (LSU) is equivalent to a dairy cow. The number of animals (number of heads) is converted into LSU using a set of coefficients reflecting the feed requirements of the different animal categories.
Context
European Commission Rural development policy aims to improve competitiveness in agriculture and forestry, improve the environment and countryside, improve the quality of life in rural areas and encourage the diversification of rural economies.
As agriculture has modernized and the importance of industry and services within the economy has increased, so agriculture has become much less important as a source of jobs. Consequently, increasing emphasis is placed on the role farmers can play in rural development, including forestry, biodiversity, the diversification of the rural economy to create alternative jobs and environmental protection in rural areas.
The FSS continues to adapt to provide timely and relevant data to help analyse and follow these developments.
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- Farm Structure Survey in Luxembourg - 2007 - Statistics in focus 96/2008
- National Methodological Report – FSS 2007 Luxembourg (available on request)
Main tables
- Agriculture, see:
- Structure of agricultural holdings (t_ef)
Database
- Agriculture, see:
- Structure of agricultural holdings (ef)
Dedicated section
- Agriculture, see:
- Ad-hoc tables: Farm Structure Survey