EU agriculture chief under pressure over bid to trim intensive pig farming

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EU agriculture chief under pressure over bid to trim intensive pig farming

17 February 2020
News
Janusz Wojciechowski, the EU’s agriculture commissioner, wants to crack down on the environmental impact of intensive animal farming, but apart from support from animal welfare groups, his calls have so far met with mixed reactions.

In France, Italy and Poland, there are less than 80 pigs farmed per per 100 hectares of utilised agricultural land – a figure which rises to 452, 473 and 690 in Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands, the Polish commissioner said on Twitter.

“As part of the Green Deal, it will be necessary to address the problem of intensive pig farming in some EU countries, because agriculture has to be sustainable,” Wojciechowski added, in comments that sounded like a reprimand to Northern EU countries.

The Polish commissioner continued his comparison in a subsequent Tweet. Citing figures from cattle farming, he said the number of cows per 100 hectares of agricultural land reaches 43, 47, 59 and 67 on average in Poland, Italy, Denmark and France.

But in Belgium and the Netherlands, the numbers exceed 170, he pointed out.