Change in pig production in Denmark: farms, technical performance, environmental regulation and prospects

The Danish pig production has always been able to adapt and to evolve quickly. Its current growth and deep structural change contrast with the stagnation in France. The pig farm reorganization is already impressive (30 000 farms in 1990, 5 800 in 2008) and it accelerates under the increasing pressure of environmental constraints while the control of farm structure is softened.In Denmark, a farm model is clearly designed and promoted by the representatives of pig production. Farms must be very professional and optimize technical performance (sow, feed, labour, building productivity). For this purpose, they become fewer and specialize in breeding or fattening. Thus about 700 breeding sites of almost 1,000 sows on average concentrate half of the reproductive herd of the country.Water and biodiversity protection has been a priority for a long time in Denmark. Strict rules are imposed on farms and their application is actually controlled. For example, animal dejections are spread without almost any treatment, but fertilization, which must use organic nitrogen firstly, is strictly controlled. The environmental rules limit the fattening possibilities; 20% of produced piglets are exported today. Procedures of farms authorization have been more flexible than in France until recently. But they were hardened. In the future, the growth of Danish pig production could thus become more difficult. Nevertheless, it benefits today from farms armed to take up the challenge of competitiveness and well accepted by society.