More shrinkage for Danish pig herd

Denmark’s pig breeding herd is continuing to shrink, according to provisional figures from the July 1 pig census, says AHDB Pork.

The latest report shows the number of Danish pigs still falling at the start of the third quarter of this year, declining by 3%, year-on-year, to 12.3 million head.

“This continues the year-on-year decline that has been recorded in the pig herd in Denmark in each quarter in 2016,” said AHDB Pork, adding that, for the first time this century, total sow numbers in the country have fallen below one million.

“Both in-pig sows and in-pig gilts were down 3%, while maiden gilts recorded a modest rise of 1%. All of this is indicative of a continuing tightening of supplies in the second half of the year.

“In addition, the number of young pigs fell modestly by 1%, while slaughter pig volumes were back slightly more at 3%. Therefore, it may be expected that production volumes will fall both in the shorter and longer term.”