Over the six-month period, the regional pig population decreased by almost 56,000 head. At the same time, the number of farms keeping pigs fell by 13%, or 15 holdings, to 105 farms.
For comparison, Brandenburg had 225 pig farms in 2011. Their number has therefore more than halved over the past 15 years.
Declines were recorded across all production categories. The number of finishing pigs fell the most, dropping by almost 15% to 118,000 head.
The breeding sow herd decreased by almost 9% to 56,000 animals, while the number of piglets and young pigs declined by nearly 8% to 354,000 head.
The negative trend is also reflected in slaughter volumes. In 2025, 799,000 pigs were slaughtered in Brandenburg — the lowest figure since 1991 and 23% fewer than a year earlier.
The main reasons cited for the industry’s decline include the economic consequences of African swine fever, the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in early 2025, and the closure in December last year of the slaughterhouse in Perleberg, which had processed around 24,000 pigs per week.
Due to the loss of regional slaughter capacity, producers are being forced to transport animals over long distances, including to Weissenfels in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. This increases logistics costs and places additional pressure on the financial position of pig farms.
PigUA.info, based on materials from euromeatnews.com