Pig farming: challenges and perspectives

Čedomir Radović, Vladimir Živković, Nenad Stojiljković, Dragan Radojković, Nenad Parunović, Aleksandra Petrović, Marija Gogić

Abstract: Global pork production in 2022 increased by 1% compared to the previous year. The largest producer of pork is still the People's Republic of China with 46%, followed by the EU with 18% and the USA with a 10% share in total production. In the previous period, there were major disruptions in the market due to the emergence of two 2020 COVID-19 viruses and the emergence of the African swine fever (ASF) virus in Ukraine in 2012. The virus COVID-19 disrupted the market for two years with a declining impact from 2022, but the ASF virus is not reducing its impact even today since its appearance. In Serbia, the largest number of euthanized pigs due to ASF was in 2023, as well as in neighboring Croatia. Smaller farms were the most affected because they did not have good biosecurity measures, and large pig breeders were endangered and at risk because of them. In 2024, the occurrence of ASF was recorded in four districts (15 villages) as well as in one municipality of the city of Belgrade. Since the beginning of this year, we have had AFSderegistered in four districts, for 31 populated places the decision on the area infected with the AFS virus has been revoked. When we talk about the market, the cost price per kg of warm carcass side in 2022 is the highest in Italy (€2,894/kg of warm carcass side) with a share of pig feeding costs of 62.89% and a share of labour costs of 5.18% per kg of warm carcass side, while in Brazil ( Midwest) the price of producing a kg of warm carcass side is significantly lower and amounts to 1,412 euros per kg with a share of pig feeding costs of 77.20% and a share of labour costs of 2.83% in the cost price of a kg of warm carcass side. Serbia is one of the few countries in Europe that has not introduced a system of evaluating carcass sides on the slaughter line and paying fattening animals according to the estimated share of meat in the carcass side, i.e. the meatiness of fattening animals, but mostly fattening animals are paid per kg of live weight. Introduction of unbiased assessment of meatness on the slaughter line in Serbia would significantly improve pig production in Serbia and increase the economy of pork production.

Keywords: costs; market; pig production; risks in pig production; virus

Citation: Radović, Č., Živković, V., Stojiljković, N., Radojković, D., Parunović, N., Petrović, A. & Gogić, M. (2025). Pig farming: challenges and perspectives. Bulgarian Journal of Animal Husbandry, 62(1), 19-26.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.61308/BNLD7517

Date published: 2025-02-26