Pig barns in France : what would be the investment budget to cover current needs

In 2006, the IFIP led a series of questionnaires and diagnostic appraisals as part of a drive to produce a status report on the national installed base of pig farms**. The study analysed economic and financial data and put a figure on the capital investment needed for retrofitting up to national standards. Investment levels have dropped dramatically in the Côte d'Armor, falling from over €500/sow in 1991/2 to only €187 over the 2003/06 period. This decrease is evidence of an investment lag in French pig farming that is inexorably building up. In the space of a decade, the value of capital assets per sow, excluding land, has dropped 22%. In 2005, fixed assets in terms of pig barns amounted to €1,250/sow in Brittany-based grower-finisher farms and €974/sow as a national average. French pork production can only remain competitive if the pig farms are modernised. The national capital investment needed to retrofit French pig barns up to national standards was estimated as falling between the 2.5-2.9 billion € bracket: refurbishment or ground-up rebuilding – with litter-bearers (€660M), without litter-bearers (€1691M), building to cover pen shortages (€96M) and re-establishment (€409M) or retrofitting (€99M) of custom fattening pens.