Number of pigs overdue movement or slaughter on pig farms in England on 1 February 2022
Updated 24 March 2022
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/livestock-populations-pigs-at-1-december-2021-england/number-of-pigs-overdue-movement-or-slaughter-on-pig-farms-in-england-on-1-february-2022
This release provides an update to the number of pigs overdue movement or slaughter on pig farms in England on 1 February 2022. These supplementary data will help us understand, monitor and assess the continuing situation in the pig industry and will be used to inform and evaluate policy.
Results are from the February 2022 Pig Survey, which was a follow-up sent to respondents of the December 2021 pig survey who agreed to participate. Farmers were asked whether they had any pigs overdue for movement or slaughter on 1 February 2022 and if so, how many. Farmers were also asked whether they had prematurely culled pigs on farm during December 2021 and January 2022.
1. Detailed results and key messages
- 22% of pig farms in England reported having a backlog of pigs on farm on 1 February 2022, compared to 25% on 1 December 2021.
- On 1 February 2021 this backlog equates to 47 thousand weaners overdue movement and 155 thousand fatteners overdue for slaughter when raised to a national scale using the December 2021 pig population.
- This is a reduction from 73 thousand weaners and 168 thousand fatteners reported overdue movement or slaughter on 1 December 2021 as shown in table 1.
- 2% of pig farms in England reported the premature culling of pigs on farm during December 2021 and January 2002. This is unchanged from October and November 2021.
- Due to the small number of respondents who had culled on farm it is not possible to produce robust estimates of the number of pigs culled on farm on a national scale. There is also potential for non-response bias, given the sensitive nature of this question.
Table 1: Number of pigs on farm in England overdue movement or slaughter (thousands)
| 1 Dec 21 | 1 Feb 22 | |
|---|---|---|
| Weaners up 29kg overdue movement | 73 | 47 |
| Fatteners pigs over 29kg (incl: barren sows for fattening) overdue for slaughter | 168 | 155 |
Pig population data as of 1 December 2021 is shown in table 2 for information only with the full release available here.
Table 2: Pigs on commercial agricultural holdings in England on 1 December (thousands)
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | % change 2021 / 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total pigs | 3,776 | 3,748 | 4,087 | 9.0 |
| Breeding pigs | 404 | 402 | 385 | -4.2 |
| Female breeding herd | 320 | 317 | 295 | -6.9 |
| Sows in pig | 230 | 233 | 201 | -13.9 |
| Gilts in pig | 43 | 42 | 43 | 2.0 |
| Other sows (a) | 48 | 41 | 51 | 23.7 |
| Other breeding pigs | 84 | 85 | 90 | 5.9 |
| Boars being used for service | 10 | 10 | 10 | 2.4 |
| Gilts 50kg and over (b) | 73 | 75 | 80 | 6.4 |
| Fattening pigs (incl. barren sows for fattening and suckling pigs) | 3,373 | 3,346 | 3,702 | 10.6 |
| Piglets/suckling pigs | n/a | n/a | 723 | n/a |
| Weaners up to 29kg | n/a | n/a | 753 | n/a |
| Fattening pigs over 29kg (incl. barren sows for fattening) | n/a | n/a | 2,225 | n/a |
(a) Either being suckled or dry sows kept for further breeding
(b) Intended to be kept/sold for further breeding
n/a These are new categories added in 2021 so comparisons to earlier years are not available
Further information about the survey, including methodology are provided in the methodological note in section.
2. What you need to know about this release
This section ensures any important information is clearly explained so users do not misunderstand the data.
2.2 Contact details
Responsible statistician: Jayne Brigham
Team: Farming Statistics, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Email: farming-statistics@defra.gov.uk
Tel: 03000 600 170
2.2 National Statistics Status
National Statistics status means that our statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value, and it is our responsibility to maintain compliance with these standards.
The continued designation of these statistics as National Statistics was confirmed in 2014 following a full assessment by the UK Statistics Authority against the Code of Practice for Statistics.
Since the last review of these statistics in 2014, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made improvements including:
- Improved data visualisations throughout the statistical release.
- Improved coverage of the pig sector by running a special data collection exercise each year to collect data from a central point for some of the largest companies.
- In 2021 the survey was used to collect additional information to help monitor challenges faced by the industry such as backlogs on farm.
- New categories were added to the survey in 2021 to give more detail about the make-up of the fattening pig population.
For general enquiries about National Statistics, contact the National Statistics Public Enquiry Service:
Tel: 0845 601 3034
Email: info@statistics.gov.uk.
You can find National Statistics on the internet on the Gov.uk website.
3. About these statistics
3.1 Survey methodology
Data for this publication comes from the main December survey of Pigs (populations) and the follow-up February survey of pigs (backlog and premature cullings).
The December survey is a small sample survey of farms that keep over 750 pigs. It is used to estimate the size of the pig herd in England at 1 December each year. In conjunction, to improve the coverage of the pig sector, a special data collection exercise is run to collect data from a central point for some of the largest companies. In total the sample size of the December survey is roughly 950 holdings, with 630 responses received in 2021 which equates to a response rate of 67%. As with all sample surveys, the results are subject to a degree of sampling error.
The February 2022 survey sample size was smaller as it only went to farmers who completed the December survey and opted to take part in a follow-up survey. The total sample size was 580 holdings and responses were received from 494, which equates to a response rate of 85%.
The follow-up survey asked the same questions as the main December survey but asked for information on the backlog of pigs on farm at 1 February 2022 and the number of pigs prematurely culled in December 2021 and January 2022. The results are included in section 1. Response data has been used to show the proportion of holdings with pigs overdue for movement or slaughter at the 1 February 2022 and a proportion who have culled pigs on farm during December 2021 and January 2022. Results for the number of pigs making up current backlogs have been raised to provide an indication of the national scale of pigs overdue for movement or slaughter
The information on backlog premature cullings of pigs on farm was collected to help us to understand more about the current situation in the pig industry (see section 3.4 more details about users and uses of these data).
Pig data relates to commercial holdings only. Commercial holdings are defined as those with significant levels of farming activity, i.e. holdings with more than five hectares of agricultural land, or one hectare of orchards, or 0.5 hectares of vegetables or 0.1 hectares of protected crops, or more than 10 cows, or 50 pigs, or 20 sheep, or 20 goats or 1,000 poultry.
Further detail on why data is provided for commercial holdings only (see section 3.3 on thresholds) can be found in the June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture Methodology document.
3.2 Data analysis
The data are subject to rigorous validation checks which identify inconsistencies or large year-on-year changes.
3.3 Data notes
- All percentage changes are based on unrounded figures.
- Totals may not necessarily agree with the sum of their components due to rounding.
3.4 Data uses and users
- This data helps us monitor changes in livestock populations over time. The numbers are used to make forecasts of meat production to inform industry of the availability of supply which affects prices.
- Livestock distributions across the UK also help assess the risk of animal diseases and to control outbreaks.
- The data will be used to assess and inform policy and industry decisions. It will also help to monitor the effectiveness of policies and measures which have been introduced.
3.5 Other survey results and publications
Results from all the Defra farming surveys can be viewed on the Defra website. This also contains details of future publication dates.
Further December livestock population results are planned to be published on 31 March 2022 and will include cattle and sheep populations. For details about upcoming Defra statistics go to gov.uk.
More detailed results can be found at the Structure of the Livestock industry in England webpage. These data series include annual statistics on the number of cattle, sheep and pigs in England and the UK as at 1 December each year from 1996.
3.6 Feedback
We welcome feedback and any thoughts to improve the publication further. Please send any feedback to: farming-statistics@defra.gov.uk . Suggested questions to help you structure your feedback are below but all feedback is welcome:
- How relevant is the current content of the publication to your needs as a user?
- What purpose do you require the data for?
- Which data do you find most useful?
- Is there any content that you did not find useful?
- Do you have any suggestions for further development of this release; including additional content, presentation and any other thoughts?