PIGPRODUCTIONIN‌
The United States and Europe, silver and bronze The second and third places on the podium of world pig production have followed parallel paths if we consider that they have known how to retain their positions. In the case of the United States, the second, it was the country with the highest growth in productivity per head during the first 8 years of the century, as, while the production of animals on the hoof grew by 14.2%, the production of meat on carcasses carne rose 23.2% between 2000 and 2008. As a result of the financial crisis, American meat production has fallen by 2.6% compared with 2008, but it is expected to recover in the next year and grow by 1.5%, again through productivity. In the case of the United States, according to the FAS USDA inventory of all herds carried out in March of this year, there were 64 million hogs. That means 1% more than last year, but 3% less than in 2009. The breeding stock, with 5.79 million animals, is slightly larger than last year, but also 1% less than in the previous quarter. The pig herd, with 28 million head, is also following the same path: 1% more than in 2010 and 2% less than in 2009.
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Regarding the third place of the European Union (EU), in 2010, European pig production recovered thanks to the fall in feed prices, the increase in demand for meat in Russia and Asia, and a weak euro. Following the increase in the production of piglets, sacrifices in the EU rose during the second half of 2010 and were expected to remain high throughout this first half of 2011. This high level of slaughters and the case of the dioxins in Germany have led to oversupply, part of which could end up in the export channels. In the second half of 2011, it is forecast that the EU will have a lower number of piglets. Many producers currently are not earning a good production margin because of the cost of feed. Moreover, we must remember that in 2013 all farms must comply with the normative on animal welfare, which that could lead to many producers going out of the business. A look to the future According to the forecast by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service in April 2011, world pork production will grow slightly. The American institution has raised its estimate for production in the European Union, but the forecasts