Danish Crown has announced it is investing in finisher housing in Denmark.

Danish Crown is to help pig producer suppliers with investment to convert old sow stalls to finisher accommodation. The move will help to ensure the company's supply of pigs and will also secure jobs in Denmark.

The company says that tough political requirements for production in the country have meant that production of finishers has been falling over recent years and at the same time, a lack of interest to invest in new housing - or renovate the old.

Now the Board of Danish Crown has decided to help increase production of slaughter pigs by giving grants for the construction of slaughter houses and grants for renovation of old sow stalls.

The company has set a target to increase total production by 10,000 pigs a week or 520,000 more pigs per year.

Last month, we reported that the Danish pig industry had announced its united commitment to increase slaughter pig production in the country [click here to go to that story].

In other news, the affluent members of society will be the main force behind the growth of China's consumer market and account for five per cent of global consumption by 2020, according to a report from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The growth of the global population to reach over nine billion by 2050 is expected to change global consumption, supply and demand patterns for food.

Population growth and the growing wealth in the developing nations are changing consumption trends. In China and South East Asia, the migration of the population from the rural to the urban economy is changing the demand for a more protein-rich diet. However, the change in consumption patterns may not be so much a change from cereals to meat and fish, but one to more edible oils and more milk and dairy products.

Such a change and a pattern of growth will not only have an effect on the economies of developed and developing nations but also on agriculture and the demand for different crops.

And finally, on African Swine Fever (ASF), an international meeting on preventing the spread of the disease was held recently in the city of Samara in the southeastern part of European Russia. The event was attended by representatives of the veterinary services of the Russian states and heads of state and included exercises for working out joint actions for ASF prevention and control. Further outbreaks of the disease have been identified in wild boar in the Tver region.