Denmark's pig industry under scrutiny

"However, politicians should be careful that they don't tighten production conditions to such an extent that they pull the rug from under the producers."​

Mikkelsen warned that the industry was once again faced with a budget that seemed designed to lower the working conditions of Danish agriculture. "In view of the tight conditions under which we're operating, there are grounds for concern for our competitiveness. We're in direct competition with pig producers from the rest of the world and there is no room for imposing further restrictions on us."​

At the annual meeting, Niels Mikkelsen also warned against ill-considered political moves against Denmark's large companies in the wake of the current debate surrounding the Arla Foods dairy Group. "Some politicians seem to ignore the fact that our participation in the inner market has left the door wide open to foreign competitors,"​ he said.

"Competition for consumers' attention is considerable. Just take a look at the diversity in supermarket chilled counters with their range of foreign meat products from countries like Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Italy, not to mention beef from Australia and Brazil. I'm even inclined to believe that the mergers in Denmark have been a contributing factor behind this development because consolidation within the food industry has not led to fewer supplies, rather the opposite, i.e. an increase in international supplies - all of which, of course, is in keeping with the objectives of the inner market."​

Mikkelsen directly addressed Danish politicians when he said that he sincerely hoped that parliamentarians would be able to adopt a general view and realise the principles upon which the Danish farming community has built one of Denmark's few international business success stories. "I must warn them against tampering with the agricultural sector's co-operative foundation on the basis of topical sentiments. This would have consequences - also for Danish society in general."​

The European pig industry is a tough industry to operate in, and government intervention at a national level is often supported if it means the industry can become more competitive. Recent government developments in the UK for example have been largely welcomed by industry experts. A new pig health and welfare strategy has been drawn up by the British Pig Executive (BPEX) and the Meat and Livestock Commission​ (MLC), incorporating nine priorities for action. These include scientific and technical targets designed to allow prevailing animal health problems to be quantified, controlled, eradicated or avoided, together with organisational targets.

"It is estimated that pig disease costs British pig producers at least £50 million a year. Improving the health of pigs will benefit customers through better quality meat and meat products. It will benefit producers and processors by saving costs and improving competitiveness,"​ said BPEX chairman Stewart Houston.

"It will benefit the pigs through improved welfare and it will benefit the country as a whole in helping achieve Government policy of a sustainable rural economy."​

Denmark's pig industry is of greater importance to the national economy than in perhaps any other European country. It is therefore inevitable that there should be great concern about the competitiveness of the industry. Every year, 25 million pigs are slaughtered, which represents 10 per cent of total pork processing in the EU. For a country with an area of 43,000 square kilometres (60 per cent the size of Ireland) and a population of 5.3 million people, this industry plays an important role in Danish society.

More than three quarters of Denmark's total pork production is exported, making it the second largest pork exporter after the US. Last year Danish Crown​ exported products to the value of nearly €4 billion. This equates to approximately 55 per cent of total Danish agricultural exports and close to 7 per cent of the total Danish exports of goods.