Polish sow herd has declined significantly
Poland's pig production has declined in the last few years, observes Jim Long, President-CEO, Genesus Inc., during his road trip through Eastern Europe.
Poland used to have almost 2 million sows no so long ago but the sow herd has declined to 1 million in the last few years. Pig farming system is still tributary to many small farms in the country even if some of the small farmers have decided to migrate to other countries.
"In Poland, there are many small farmland holdings. If you are a farm you don’t pay income tax on all your income. As they say, follow the money trail. No income tax for farmers leads to many farmers. With so many small property owners, it is getting ever and ever more difficult to build new swine farms.
The 'not in my backyard' syndrome has developed for pig production. Poland’s economy has got stronger due to large financial support from the European Union. As Poland has become more prosperous, the desire for having pigs in the country has declined. The structure used to be many small farms, industry consolidation and migration of small landholders to the cities and to other countries have cut production significantly.", noted Jim Long.
The industry consolidation process has got to a point where Smithfield Foods is the largest producer in Poland with about 90,000 sows and several packing plants. Nevertheless, the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreaks and a decline of national pig inventory have increased the imports, over a million feeder pigs being imported annually by Polish enterprises at about $60, with Denmark being the main supplier.
"Profits currently in the $30 per head, up for breakeven a few months ago. Our read of the market, in Poland, pig production will be relatively steady in the future", added Mr Long.
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