Uncertainty Looms for Poland’s Pig Industry Once Again
Poland’s pig industry made it through a difficult summer. The profitability of many farms declined. There is no certainty that the rest of the year will be much better.
A surge in farmgate prices in 2023 brought some long-anticipated relief to Poland’s pig farmers, but the lesson of this year is that the recovery can be fragile, Jan Dambon, a pig farmer from Roszowice, told local news outlet Top Agrar. In July, the market experienced a drop of nearly 10% in the price of fattened pigs from the comfortable level of PLN 9.6 to PLN 9.8 ($2.43 – $2.58) in the previous month.
“Despite the decline in grain prices, which partially compensate for the losses, the profitability of pig breeding remains questionable,” Damboń admitted.
The picture is similar all over the country. Bernard Dembczak, president of the Silesian Farmers’ Association, described the situation as alarming. He indicated that for many farmers, profitability strongly declined, depriving them of any willingness to breed pigs. “After a good year [2023], the price has fallen by almost a third [in 2024], which is a huge challenge for us,” Dembczak stated.
Krystian Kostka, another pig farmer from Grodzisk, pointed out that Poland’s farmgate pig prices depend heavily on neighbouring Germany. “It is not that bad, but let’s not kid ourselves. The cost of amino acids and soybean meal has not fallen, which affects our profitability”.
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