In Denmark, about 6.5 million pigs (21 percent) are lost in pig husbandry every year. The major part of losses (13.7 percent) is observed with regard to suckling pigs. Piglet rearing loses 4.4 percent, and fattening suffers a loss of 4.5 percent.

But what’s behind those losses?
An average 12.9 piglets are born live with every litter in Denmark. This proves to be the result of the sows’ high fertility on the one hand. On the other hand, it can be attributed to excellent herd management. In order to not lose any piglets at a proficiency level this good, the sow feeders must be endued with kind of extrasensory perception. At least, they succeed to wean more than eleven piglets per litter on the average. Various viruses must be fought against in piglet stables and in fattening houses by the sow feeders. Of late, PMWS (Postweaning Multisystemic Wasting System) above all caused a lot of trouble at some farms.

Danish politicians now demand for taking steps. But what kind might such steps be of? Banning natural death in the piggeries, for instance? The Swedes indeed are believed capable of adopting such kind of step. In Denmark, however, the parliamentarians would rather shut their ears off from agricultural experts and favour ideologically fatuous and – to put it mildly – untaught animal welfare campaigners instead. And that’s just because more votes might be reached during the next elections rather with the would-be animal welfare campaigners’ help than with that of a few pig feeders. Be sure that those animal welfare campaigners will recommend to Let the live pigs walk freely!

Certainly, those animal welfare campaigners won’t be getting the idea that such high loss must be directly attributed to the fact that Danish pig feeders apply antibiotics in a very restrictive kind of way. Unfortunately, only little statistical data is available with regard to this issue. Comparing it with the Dutch practice, one finds that the Danish pig feeders only dispense slightly more than a third of the volume of antibiotics administered to pigs in the Netherlands! As a yearly average, every fattening pig is being given no more than just four grams of antibiotics in Denmark – and this value already includes the antibiotics dispensed to sows.

Since 1996, the volume of antibiotics applied by Danish pig feeders has been halved! This is a fact simply disremembered by the politicians. A fact, however, they do realise is that antibiotics increased slightly (by seven percent) in consumption last year. One of the reasons for this increase was that massive problems emerged with PWMS.

In order to be successful with it, the Danish pig feeders invested more than EUR 100 million into salmonellae monitoring. They really did work hard to fulfil all the demands which politics placed on pig husbandry.

We’re not expecting to be thanked for that. But we had put our hopes on politics to appreciate our helpful attitude and cooperation inasmuch as finding factual arguments being accepted again – and not only vote-getting. We were so naive ….

Hans Aarestrup acts as the Manager of Danske Svineproducenter (DSP; the Danish pig feeders’ interest group) with its head offices in Fredericia, Denmark.