“Closing farms will lead to a further decline in food self-sufficiency in the Czech Republic and a deepening dependence on imports from abroad. For pork, we have to import more than 200,000 tonnes a year, about half of domestic consumption. In the event of market fluctuations, a sharp rise in prices may occur, “said Jan Doležal, President of the Agrarian Chamber.
Some farmers intend to keep raising pigs, but many are determined to limit this activity. According to the survey, 43 percent of companies will be affected next year, and by 2030 it will be 22 percent of companies surveyed. Only a quarter of farms want to maintain pig farming at the current level next year and a fifth by 2030. On the contrary, almost no one is going to expand pig farms next year.
According to the survey, long-term low purchase prices force farmers to make a drastic decision. This is followed by rising input costs and increasingly limited sales opportunities. Some breeders cited a shortage of staff in the survey due to retirement and low interest in new staff or a bureaucracy that they could not manage in a limited number of people.
Purchase prices are falling
The so-called farm price at which breeders sell pigs has hardly changed since the Czech Republic joined the European Union. October data from the statistical office state that the price of pigs for slaughter is 25 crowns per kilogram of live weight, which is even eight percent less than a year ago.
Breeders can hardly reflect in these prices the entry costs, which have skyrocketed in recent months, and they have suffered approximately 800 to 1000 crowns per pig. According to the Association of Pig Breeders, they pay 20 to 25 percent more for animal feed compared to last year due to rising prices of cereals or oilseeds, which are the basic ingredient in compound feeds.
At the same time, energy prices rose by five to forty percent, depending on the specific supplier and the time of fixation. Fuel costs on average 35 percent more and labor costs have increased by four to six percent.
“The main reason for the low purchase prices is cheap and pre-subsidized pork from other parts of the European Union, especially from Spain, Germany or Poland, which sell retail chains in the Czech Republic,” said Petr Coufal, a member of the board of the Association of Pig Breeders.
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Jiří Horák from the company Farma Choťovice in the Kolín region also confirmed the deplorable state of pork production. “We are a medium-sized company which, in addition to pig breeding, also deals with cattle breeding and crop production. Unfortunately, pig farming is the most loss-making and does not make economic sense. Therefore, we are going to reduce breeding next year, “said Horák.
The improvement of the current situation is to support the project as an online pork market, which is launched by the Our Farmers platform. The aim is to directly connect farmers with customers and enable them to order and buy Czech pork online without a mark-up.
“Customers can order quality Czech pork at reasonable prices and buy directly from the breeder. Just look at the map, choose from several dozen stores and dispensing points according to the distance from home and order online. Then they just pick up the top quality pork and they can start cooking, “explains Jakub Žák from the Our Farmers platform.
German pattern
Pig farmers abroad are also in a difficult situation, where similar projects are also being set up and many of them are being launched by retail chains. “For example, the German chain Aldi recently announced that it is switching to the sale of exclusively German pork under the 5D regime – ie born, reared, fattened, slaughtered, processed in Germany. At the same time, it will pay suppliers up to twenty percent higher purchase prices than the current ones, in order to support German pig farmers in the critical situation that prevails in the pork market throughout Europe, “said the President of the Agrarian Chamber Doležal. “I call on retail chains that operate in the Czech Republic to be inspired by this approach and thus contribute to the rescue of Czech pork. I would not like us to have to prepare Czech traditional dishes such as pork dumpling or only from imported meat, “he added.
See how the farm is managed
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