Growth reported in English pig herd in year to June

By Bethan Wilkins

Defra has published provisional figures for the England June Agricultural Census. In the year to June 2021, the total number of pigs in England reportedly was up by around 5% to approximately 4.23 million head.

Breeding pig numbers showed little change overall. However, numbers of sows and gilts in-pig were somewhat lower. On the other hand, maiden gilt numbers were higher.

We generally advise some caution over interpreting the June Census results. However, the increase in fattening pig numbers this year would help explain why we seem to have difficulties with pigs backed up on farm and processing capacity challenges, despite numbers coming through since June being similar to last year.

The breeding herd results don’t clearly point towards herd contraction, which is the general expectation at present due to poor profitability and succession concerns. Indeed, maiden gilt numbers were actually higher than in the past couple of years. Nonetheless, it may be that more contraction has happened since the June survey took place, as the challenges faced by the industry have increased since then. If so, we might expect to see a lower breeding herd number by the time of the December census, ultimately constraining production in the latter part of 2022.

Final numbers, and results for other UK regions, will be released in the coming weeks and months.

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