Pig feed supply in the Netherlands and Denmark : consequences of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform

The reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, introduced in 1993/94, has led to a large increase in the use of cereals in animal feeds in the European Union.In the Netherlands, the new price scheme for feedstuffs has reduced the competitiveness of grain substitutes. It has in fact increased the rate of inclusion of cereals in pig compound feed. The changes in the use of feedstuffs have occurred mostly at the expense of the use of tapioca.In Denmark, the use of cereals in pig feed was already very high before the reform (commercial compounds and homemixing) and it has continued to increase.Favourable supply conditions have brought a 12 % reduction in pig feed prices (1995/96 versus the beginning of the nineties). The decrease has been a little less pronounced in France (-10 %). The deterioration in the competitiveness of the Dutch position on the feedstuffs market, the new price-making parameters and the stagnant pig sector have contributed to a less beneficial evolution (-7 %) compared to the two cereal-growing member states.