Over the years, problems with manure disposal meant that many Danish producers focussed on just producing 30kg weaners and cut back on finishing. At the same time the 2013 partial dry sow stall ban was looming, which meant new buildings / conversions were required and so many producers decided to increase sow numbers, to stop producing slaughter pigs and simply focus on 30kg pig production.
German finisher farms (and latterly Polish as well) liked the quality of the Danish pigs and so the export of store pigs flourished. In fact this trade has doubled, from 5.3million pigs in 2008 to 10.8 million in 2014, whilst over that same period slaughter numbers have dropped from 21million head to 18.7million.
The Danish pig industry hierarchy started to get concerns about this booming export trade as it was considered more risky and volatile than finishing pigs at home, plus more finished pigs meant more pig meat exports. Hence at the Herning Pig Conference in October 2012 an agreement called the “Herning Declaration” was signed between pig producers, slaughter houses and the food industry to boost slaughter pig production.
Unfortunately it would appear that these incentives were not enough as weaner pig exports continued to rise (9.7 million in 2013 & 10.8 million in 2014) and slaughter numbers fell (19.1 million in 2013 to 18.7 in 2014). However, at the 2015 Herning Conference Claus Fertin, SEGES new director announced new initiatives to again boost finisher pig production, whereby current EU funding which went into environmental schemes would be re-allocated from 2016 to help finance new finisher buildings.
Asger Krogsgaard (48) was involved in drawing up the Herning Declaration and so it’s hardly surprising that he has “put his money where his mouth is” and his not unsubstantial farming operation, located in West Jutland, is farrow –to–finish. Krogsgaard inherited his family farm, Mogensgaard, comprising of 100sows and 30ha 23 years ago and over recent years he has built his business up considerably so that today he has 1700 sows producing 55,000 weaners. This works out at 32.3 pigs sold per sow, no mean feat with a herd of this size. Twenty –two thousand pigs are sold at 30kg to neighbours for finishing, with the other 33,000 pigs being finished at home at 110kg, the slaughter pigs all being sold to Danish crown.
Krogsgaard’s arable involvement has grown very substantially, such that the 30ha in 1993 has grown to 825ha, of which 200ha is rented. The pig business has eight sites, which includes four finisher units, some of which are rented, plus a stand-alone gilt production facility. His business employs a total of 18 staff, with the majority involved with the breeding operation.
“Ten years ago we were just producing store pigs which gave me and my wife Dorthe a very variable income. Producing slaughter pigs which go to help Danish exports, give far more stable returns and so this had to be the way forward for the business. Unfortunately Danish research and advice has been focussed on the breeding herd to the detriment of finisher pig production and this emphasis must change. As it happens, we have not gone for a “UK Contract” as this would have meant big alterations to the gestation sow housing, to keep the sows loose for the first four weeks of pregnancy. Another example of Krogsgaard’s entrepreneur skills are five wind turbines that he has bought and erected, with electricity sales boosting his income.
The Danish feed company DLG is now focussing more on finishing pig production and now employs 10 advisers who specifically give advice on this aspect of pig production, with respect to the type and specification of feed, plus the analysis of live weight gain and FCR data etc. Krogsgaard is using this advisory service and is seeing benefits in terms of better pig performance.
Just under half of Krogsgaard’s finishers are housed in a large stable, as the Danes call their finishing sheds, built in 2012. This barn was built on a site bought in 2005 along with 200ha of arable land. The stable, which cost 23million DKr can finish 16,000 pigs in four batches and Krogsgaard has the option to double the barn’s size in the future. Having said that, putting up new buildings takes alot of time, taking 12 months simply to obtain the necessary planning permits.
Minority groups, called NIMBYs in England (Not In My Back Yard) can have a disproportionate influence on planning applications and employ delaying tactics. Given this new focus on expanding finishing operations the pig industry is pushing for planning procedures to be speeded up. Ideally the barn would have been built in 2008 but the financial crisis put the project on hold. The barn is well ventilated and lit, with minimal smell and the pigs looked in excellent condition. The floors are part slatted, with the slurry having sulphuric acid added to it. Plastic bucket-like containers are placed over the feed troughs. These containers have holes in the bottom which allow chopped straw to be pulled down into the troughs to satisfy welfare requirements. All exhaust air passes through a Skov scrubber and is cleaned, a requirement of Danish environmental legislation, before the air gets released into the atmosphere. Quite recently a platform weigher has been installed to monitor trial batches of pigs, in terms of growth rate. Feed troughs run the full length of the pens with the wet feed being pumped round from a Datamix system housed in the barn’s “kitchen”. Feed levels are adjusted daily, increasing up to a maximum of 3.2 Feed Units / day; with pigs not being fed ad lib as very fast growth can reduce the carcase lean percentage.
Performance Data: Daily growth rate, from 29.3kg to slaughter (84.3kg deadweight) varies from 844gm/day to 1077gm/day averaging out at 972gm/day over 12 months. The FE/Kg varies from 2.55 to 2.78 and averages out, again over 12 months at 2.63:1. Killing out is 76.3 per cent. The meat percentage is 59.3 per cent. This seems a little on the low side, but it must be remembered that the slaughter pigs are 50 per cent Duroc. Many other nations use straight Pietrian or Pietrian crosses as the terminal sire and this generally results in a higher meat percentage in the slaughter pig.
The mill and mix plant also has the capacity to produce all the feed for all four finishing sites, with the feed being delivered by a 25tonne liquid feed tanker. Krogsgaard is able to grow a third of his own cereals buying in the other two thirds from his neighbours. Wheat and barley have been traditional home grown ingredients but nowadays maize varieties are available that can be grown for grain. 170ha of land grows corn which is harvested in the autumn and is a very useful part of the feed regime, plus land growing corn can take large amounts of slurry. The land in this part of Jutland is very light and dries out quickly. In the past barley has been best suited to being grown on this light land but corn is now being grown two years out of five in the rotation . After harvest the corn is milled, mixed with acid preservative and stored under plastic until needed for feeding. Toxin binders are deemed unnecessary. Co-products are valued for pig feed, due to their cheapness and Krogsgaard has been able to find a local bakery which sells him its waste bread. This of course helps to keep the feed costs down.
Kim Vanting manages the finishing unit and is responsible for selecting the slaughter pigs. He weighs a few pigs “to get his eye in” and then eyeballs the rest, clearing the house over a four week period. A novel feature of the unit is a loading pen which is built into one side of the stable. This pen can hold 350 slaughter pigs but usually batches contain around 250 pigs, with five batches being shipped weekly. Having this facility means that the haulier can back up and load the pigs by himself, at any time day or night. Danish Crown pays a bonus of 3DKroner / pig for pigs collected before 6 a.m. (to get a good throughput at the slaughter plant the pigs are often picked up at 3 a.m. ) so Vanting moves the selected baconers into the loading pen before leaving for the night. Given tight margins this bonus is very welcome.
The trend for pig units to get larger is a worldwide trend with Denmark being no exception. This means larger teams of staff are required and managers must be skilled in handling staff – humans are the problem, not the pigs! Because staff are multinational English is the common language on many Danish units. In fact for several years now the talks at the Herning Conference are delivered in both English and Danish, an indication of the size of the non- Danish work force that is employed on Danish farms. Krogsgaard recognises the importance of having all his staff as “team players” and in fact staff on his home unit all have lunch together with himself and wife Dorthe (who is the farm’s business manager) in their farmhouse kitchen. Krogsgaard has three team leaders whom he meets with weekly to discuss farm business. In addition, Kim and his finisher units’ team meet up every Monday with the rest of Asger’s workforce to discuss unit management, foster team spirit and a sense of togetherness.
The Danish pig industry has its ups and downs but Krogsgaard is in the business long term, plus he has two sons who want to farm. “We have a great deal of research going on in Denmark plus we have many specialist companies in the pig sector,” he said. His farm business is very successful and it shows that the farrow-to-finish model is working well and is something that other Danish producers should seriously consider adopting. •
— By Norman Crabtree
