China lowers target for sow inventory in effort to stabilize prices

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has announced that the country will be lowering the target for its sow inventory to around 41 million head for 2021-2025, with a minimum of 37 million head, stating that "as long as the stock of breeding sows is kept within a reasonable range, piglet production is ensured, and the market supply of live pigs and pork prices can remain relatively stable."

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, at the end of June, there were 45.64 million breeding sows in the country (11% over the target).

The government has created a warning system for when the sow numbers fall out of this range:

• Green: Normal fluctuations in production capacity (less than 5% above or below the target).
• Yellow: When production capacity fluctuates sharply, measures must be taken to encourage breeding sow inventory to return to the normal range. (5-10% above or below the target)
• Red: Excessive fluctuations (over 10% above or below the target). Control measures must be strengthened.

In August the sow inventory was close to 10% over the target range, putting it in the upper limits of the yellow category. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs thus stated that the majority of farms should take reasonable measures such as delaying the replacement of breeding sows and accelerate the elimination of lowly productive sows in order to and reduce the sow inventory to a reasonable level.