More little piggies go to market

Revenue from pig farming is growing at a faster rate than beef farming, and this trend is forecast to continue to 2021, according to research by IBISWorld.

Revenue from pig farming will grow at an annualised 5.8% from 2010–11 to 2015–16, to reach $1.5 billion, while the beef cattle farming industry will grow by an annualised 3.1% to $13.5 billion in the same period. Looking ahead, revenue growth for pig farming is tipped grow by to 4.5% over the next five years to 2020–21, compared with forecast growth for beef cattle of 2.4%.

IBISWorld Senior Industry Analyst Brooke Tonkin says that over the past five years, increasing competition from imports has forced pig farmers to alter production to survive and that these changes have revived the industry, with production volumes and average pig meat prices rising strongly over the period.

Due to health regulations, only processed pig meats can be imported into Australia, which means that baconer farmers face more competition than their porker farmer counterparts.

Intense competition from imported pig meat, often from countries that subsidise pig production, has encouraged many Australian pig farmers to become porker producers, which allows them to achieve higher prices for their livestock, said Tonkin.

“Pig meat consumption has increased, with fresh pork consumption growing at a faster rate than processed pig meat consumption,” Tonkin added. “Increasing health consciousness and a shift towards white meat among consumers for its perceived health benefits has helped contribute to this consumption growth.”

In response to increasing consumer concerns about the treatment of livestock, Australian pig farmers have agreed to phase out sow stall production by 2017, forcing farmers to invest in new farming layouts and facilities, replacing stalls with open pens that give pigs room to roam. This conversion requires substantial capital investment and has further encouraged pig farmers to shift towards higher-value porker production over the past five years.

Pig farmers are expected to continue reaping the benefits of shifting production over the next five years, with per-capita domestic pig meat consumption forecast to grow modestly over the period and continuing expansion of fresh pork as a percentage of total pig meat consumption.