Why there are fewer and fewer pig farmers in Germany

Meat production in Germany has been falling for years, and in 2022 it will be stronger than ever. The decline is most evident in pork – more and more pig farmers are going out of business. There are many reasons for this, but farmers agree: the biggest threat comes from politics.

Fewer animals on the slaughterhouse – pigs in particular are missing

In 2022, meat production in Germany shrank for the sixth year in a row. That comes from one current report of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). While 8.3 million tons of meat were produced in the record year of 2016, the volume fell by 8.1 percent to seven million tons between 2021 and 2022. According to the statisticians, the regression “was never as strong as in 2022.”

A total of 51.2 million pigs, cattle, sheep, goats and horses and 701.4 million chickens, turkeys and ducks ended up in the slaughterhouse last year. The number of cattle decreased by almost eight percent compared to 2021, and for poultry it was only 2.9 percent less.

The biggest losses are in the pork sector. According to Destatis, 45.8 million pigs of domestic origin were slaughtered in 2022, almost ten percent fewer than in the previous year. Compared to 2016, pork production collapsed by almost a fifth – and the trend is continuing to fall.

Pig farming is deep in crisis

The fact that fewer pigs are slaughtered is partly due to the consumer trend to generally avoid meat. Almost eight million Germans are now vegetarians – almost ten percent of the population. But even meat fans are turning less and less to pork, animal welfare scandals and health concerns are curbing the appetite of many.

But that’s not the main reason for the falling production. “In Germany, the number of pig farms has roughly halved in the last ten years. In 2022 alone, 1,900 pig farmers went out of business – more than ever before,” explains Joachim Rukwied, President of the German Farmers’ Association (DBV) to FOCUS online. The pig breeding strongholds of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia are not spared either.

Nationwide, about 60 percent of sow farmers and 42 percent of fattening pig farmers intend to give up operations in the next two to ten years. This was the result of a survey published in 2021 by the interest group of pig farmers in Germany (ISN). As a result, the German animal population is also dwindling, according to Destatis the number in 2022 had already fallen to its lowest level since reunification in 1990.

Why pig farmers give up

At the moment, the energy crisis is presenting pig farmers with unprecedented challenges. The rising costs of energy, fertilizer and feed are causing many farmers to be in the red. You can only pass on the additional costs to consumers to a limited extent. If the meat is too expensive, no one will take it from them.

The energy crisis will not subside anytime soon, and the situation of the pig farmers remains precarious. The majority of farmers do not feel supported by politicians. “On the contrary, the pig farmers feel abandoned,” says ISN Managing Director Dr. Torsten Staack in conversation with FOCUS online.

The farmers lack planning security through politics. Government requirements are changing at ever shorter intervals, which often means that investments that have already been initiated are rendered obsolete again. Farmers who actually want to invest in more animal welfare and environmental protection but are unable to do so due to a lack of planning security are also stagnating. “From our point of view, the Federal Minister of Agriculture prefers to talk to food retailers and environmental and animal welfare organizations instead of animal owners,” emphasizes Staack.

Farmers have sharply criticized Cem Özdemir’s latest plans

Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir recently caused an outcry among farmers with a draft law. He wants to introduce a labeling requirement for the way fattening pigs are kept. The five types of husbandry begin with the legal minimum standard “Stable” and end with “Organic”.

However, the law does not stipulate that meat produced abroad must be labelled. This is causing massive criticism from farmers. “German pork has to compete with foreign meat, which can be produced more cheaply below German standards,” criticizes Staack.

German authorities cannot control how foreign farms keep their animals. The meat producers are therefore demanding that, in addition to the husbandry labeling, a mandatory labeling of origin be introduced.

Law deceives consumers

Furthermore, it is criticized that according to the plans, a labeling obligation only begins from the husbandry section of the fattening pig – how the animals are kept up to this point is thus neglected. “It must not be the case that piglets produced abroad under lower production standards are fattened in Germany and then offered to German consumers in the counter with the highest form of husbandry,” says Dr. Nora Hammer, Managing Director of the Federal Association of Cattle and Pigs to FOCUS online.

Consumers could be deceived in this way, because “consumers equate higher levels of husbandry with more animal welfare and animal protection,” emphasizes Hammer. However, the husbandry label says nothing about the well-being of the animals kept. “The consumer is simply being deceived with this law.”

Less foreign meat, instead more climate protection

The burdens on domestic pig farmers are likely to increase further in view of further legal tightening and higher animal welfare standards. “We are not only losing the companies, but also know-how, added value and are relocating food production abroad,” says Rukwied.

In response to the decline in domestic pig breeding, German farms slaughtered 1.2 million imported pigs in 2022, 6.5 percent more than in the previous year. “Against the background of climate protection, however, it is crucial that we produce local food ourselves and do not import it from abroad,” says DBV President Rukwied.

“We must preserve agriculture in Germany, including animal husbandry,” he emphasizes. “Minister Özdemir has promised to implement a label of origin in Germany. We take the minister at his word. We will measure him against this statement.”