The huge decline recorded in English pig breeding herd as crisis takes its toll

England’s female pig breeding herd suffered a massive decline in 2022, as the industry endured massive financial losses on the back of soaring input costs and the pig backlog. Defra census figures for December 2022 show a 20% decrease in the female breeding herd, compared with December 2021, alongside a 9.2% drop in total number of pigs in England. The female breeding herd numbered 237,000 at the end of 2022, compared with 295,000 in December 2021 and 317,000 in 2020. The number of in-pig sows in dropped from 200,810 in December 2021 to 169,545, 15.6% lower, while in-pig gilt numbers fell from just under 42,864 to 29,406, a proportionally greater 31.4% reduction. ‘Other sows’, either being suckled or dry sows kept for further breeding, were down from 51,355 to 38,080, a decline of 25.8%. The reduction will be the result of a combination of some businesses getting out of breeding pigs altogether and others cutting back on numbers, while maintaining reduced production levels, ...