Spanish pigs are at their limit

On November 25, a wild boar appeared dead very close to the campus of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Three days later, the Central Veterinary Laboratory of Algete (Madrid) confirmed the worst: African swine fever was back.

Today there are more than 60 positives, a state of permanent psychosis and a drop in pork prices (and margins) like no one remembered.

And no farm has tested positive. But we already knew it wasn’t necessary. It was only enough for one region to suffer an outbreak for numerous export contracts to be blocked. That is what has brought down prices: the Union of Farmers and Ranchers Unions estimates losses of 153 million euros and there is already talk of a 40% drop in the margin.

These are figures from the producers, of course. However, it fits with the public ones: Mercolleida, the live pig has reached a price of around €1/kg. a month ago, after the worst price drop in 30 years, the price was 1.20.

The worst thing, however, is that (at the consumer level) the price of meat it has barely gone down.

What do we do now? Because let’s not fool ourselves, the pressure does not come only from the “health risk” (a very small one); It comes from the systemic problem: restricted zones, logistical costs, certificates and exports suspended in limbo.

Going down from one euro to the kilo is (above all) something symbolic: the symptom that we have not managed to weather the storm and the imbalances in one of our star sectors are accumulating.

The moment of truth of the Spanish pig. In recent months, we have seen how the agricultural sector is experiencing one crisis after another: when they are not the problems linked to the confinement of birds due to bird flu, are the problems in the pasture either lack of water.

Today, Spain is the undisputed leader in European pork, the third largest producer worldwide. A giant who, as we usually repeathas feet of clay.

We can see it by focusing only on one of its main problems: generational change. Thousands of farms are on the brink of disappearance simply because no one wants to take charge of them every time the owner retires. This crisis comes at its worst moment.

Image | Benjamin Lehman

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