The keeping of farm animals in Germany has been declining for years. This trend is continuing. There are several reasons for this.
Fewer pigs and cattle have been kept in Germany recently. As of May 3 of this year, farms reported 20.9 million pigs and 10.6 million cattle, according to the Federal Statistical Office. A year earlier, there were 1,200 more pigs and 310,000 more cattle.
The keeping of livestock in Germany is declining, particularly in the long term. The reason for this is the population’s falling meat consumption and the increased costs of animal welfare. As of the reporting date, 15,700 farms with pigs were registered. That was 42.2 percent less than ten years ago. Since at the same time the farms have become larger, with an average of 1,300 animals, the absolute number of animals has only fallen by 25.4 percent.
The cattle population shrank by 16.3 percent within ten years. Since 2014, more than one in three farms (36.3 percent) have given up dairy farming.
Source: Stern
