2023-09-09 20:39:43
In Austria, animal numbers are falling – and not just pigs.
Andreas Peter
According to data from Statistics Austria, a total of 2.57 million pigs were kept in the Alpine country on June 1st; that was 60,520 animals or 2.3% fewer than twelve months previously. However, the decline in stocks was much lower than in other EU countries; In Germany, for example, a decrease of 6.2% was recorded, in Denmark it was 9.6% less. Nevertheless, the pig herd in Austria has fallen to its lowest level this millennium.
According to the statisticians from Vienna, there were lower animal numbers in all categories than in June 2022. The number of piglets fell by 1.7% to 617,640 and that of piglets weighing up to 50 kg fell by 2.6% to 718,730. There was a decrease of 2.3% to 1.02 million pigs for fattening. In relative terms, the breeding sow herd was reduced even more significantly, namely by 7,140 animals or 3.3% to 212,020 sows. An increase in pig production in Austria compared to the previous year is therefore unlikely to occur in the near future.
Negative trend in cattle
According to the livestock census, the decline in cattle farming was comparatively moderate. The entire herd comprised almost 1.83 million animals in June 2023; That was 16,420 units or 0.9% less than a year ago. However, this continued the negative trend that had existed for years; the cattle herd has fallen to its lowest level in more than 30 years. Partly responsible for the recent reduction in the population was young cattle under one year old, whose number fell by 3.1% to 573,720 animals.
In contrast, the population in the one to two year old age group increased by 0.9% to 425,720 animals, while animals older than 24 months decreased by 0.2% to 826,320. The latter group also includes dairy cows, whose herd decreased by around 3,100 animals or 0.6% to 546,040 within a year. The number of cattle farmers in Austria has also fallen once more; compared to June 2022, it fell by 2.9% to 52,030 companies. On average they had 35 animals on the farm.
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