Kure: The challenges of pigs in Paraguay

"Kure" is the Guarani word for the pig. We chatted with Hugo Schaffrath, Managing Partner of the company “Granja San Bernardo” and President of the Association of Paraguayan Pork Breeders: geography, numbers and challenges of Paraguayan pig farming. Pig production in the neighboring country is a relatively new activity that began to gain relevance from the year 2000. Clearly before that date there were pig producers but on a much smaller scale. “Today, at an industrial level, about 35 thousand mothers can be counted, including the smallest and most domestic productions, it can reach about 60 thousand matrices. This is just over 10% of what Argentina has and 2% of what Brazil has, if we compare. 80% of this production is concentrated in Alto Paraná and Itapúa, where most of the country's grain production is located. The main meat processing plant that slaughters the largest number of animals, and that exports, is also located in the department of Itapúa, which borders Argentina ”, ...