French want to safeguard small-scale pig farming model

France pig farming — A multi-storey pig farm in China. Photo: Henk Riswick

The French small-scale pig farming model is, according to sector organisation Inaporc, unique in Europe and even in the world. A French pig farm holds on average 214 sows compared to over 1,000 in Denmark or the Netherlands, over 10,000 in the USA and not to mention the massive multi-storey pig farms in China.

French farms that grow pigs are on average 102 hectares and run a circular economy, with affluent from the animals used as fertiliser. These farms, with on average employ 2.4 people, are anchored in the local economy. Moreover, the famous French cooked meats industry comprises over 300 companies, often SME’s or small artisan producers, who use between them 450 different recipes.

Demain le Porc

To safeguard that model, but also to offer the consumer in France all the pork and pork products he or she wants to buy, Inaporc has launched a new strategy, Demain le Porc of The Pork of Tomorrow.

Against a background of decreasing meat consumption, pork does not do too bad in France. In the first few months of this year, consumption actually went up 1.6% year-over-year. However, that progression does not benefit the French pig sector. At the beginning of 2024, the self-sufficiency rate for pork dropped just under 100% for the very first time. While production is expected to grow by less than 1% this year, France has to import more pork and pork products to meet the growing demand. As a result, the trade balance is deteriorating rapidly.

However, Inaporc, of which the union of pig farmers Fédération nationale porcine is a member, now wants to turn the tide. ‘’We will take our social responsibility in order to secure the future of the most eaten meat in France,’’ the organisation says at the introduction of its new strategy. ‘’Faced with the threat of an influx of cheap pork of a lesser quality, the sector has decided to join forces and to formulate a common strategy aimed at further developing its unique model and assure its future. This voluntary initiative has been written collectively, in concertation with all the players who share a will of a self sufficiency rate of 100% in 2035.’’

Third largest pork producer

France currently is the third pork producer in Europe, after Spain and Germany. Last year, its farmers produced 22 million pigs. That was 4.9% less than in 2022, while the European pig industry contracted by 7.9%. However, in the first four months of this year, the French production increased by only 0,7% while Germany recorded a growth of 4.9% and Spain of 4.2%. Inaporc and its members are particularly worried about the growing imbalance in the trade figures for pork and pork products. In the first 2 months of 2023 exports still exceeded imports by 12,500 tonnes but that figure decreased to 11,700 tonnes in the same period this year.

Meeting expectations

With their new strategy, pig holders and pork producers want to meet the expectations of the French. In order to do that, the first target is to have the certified logo ‘Le Porc Français’ on at least 50% of all pork products sold in the country so that the consumer can easily identify the French origin. Secondly, all of the pig holdings that become transmittable because the farmer retires or wants to leave pig farming, should be taken up by a new owner ‘in order to secure the production in the years to come’. Inaporc and its partners therefor ask the government for support for young farmers and other entrants to the sector.

Animal welfare

To enhance animal welfare, by 2035 50% of the sows should be held in free range accommodations while all new build pig housing has to comply with that kind of system. Inaporc and the associated bodies also want to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from pig holdings by 25% by 2035. Furthermore, the sector wants to reduce its impact on nature and the environment by using as much feed from local sources or zero-deforestation soja as possible. Another plan is to introduce audits to further guarantee biosecurity, a critical issue with African Swine Fever now present in most of French’ neighbouring countries.