Finnish Pig Farm Numbers in Decline

FINLAND - The farmers' union forecasts that half of the country's pig farms will be closed by the end of the decade.
calendar icon 2 January 2015
clock icon 2 minute read

The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) says that the number of pig farms in Finland will have decreased by half by 2020, reports YLE.

The number of pig farms is set to decline by half in Finland by the year 2020. Of the 1,500 farms currently operating, just some 750 will remain in five years’ time, according to the union.

Jukka Rantala of the MTK explained: “Costs are going up and product prices are static. It’s clear that there’s going to be trouble. Individual pig farms will get bigger and bigger, with production staying the same but with larger and more spaced out facilities.”

Pig farm profitability has also suffered a downturn due to tightening international competition and to the sanctions trouble with Russia.

Finns buy more than 6,000 tonnes of Christmas ham over the course of the holidays. More than 90 per cent of all the ham sold in the country comes from domestically-reared pigs.

(Image above: YLE)

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