TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's pork farming industry has experienced a significant decline in recent years, primarily attributed to a decrease in domestic hog farmers, reduced pork production, higher costs of raising pigs, and a government decision to subsidize imported pork from May to September in 2023.
According to statistics, the number of domestic pig houses sharply decreased from 8,449 in April 2014 to only 5,893 in May. Furthermore, the total number of pigs raised nationwide this year is 5.2 million, marking a new record low since 2014.
Hog farmer Hsu Chun-he expressed his hardships, stating, "Everyone will keep raising more pigs if there is a profit. On the contrary, no one would want to stay in the business if it is not cost-effective anymore."
Hsu added, "The Ministry of Agriculture needs to guide us on how to raise hogs and upgrade the equipment to boost breeding rates with lower costs, instead of taking advantage of us when hog prices are good and subsidizing pork imported from abroad when there are pork shortages."
Data indicates that Taiwan's average hog trading price since January last year remained around NT＄70 per kilogram. However, the hog trading price increased to around NT＄80 per kilogram regularly since April of the same year and reached a record high of NT＄90 in March and April of this year.
Hung Chien-chun, manager of the swine cooperatives in Kouhu Township, Yunlin County, stated, "In order to suppress the price, the government relied heavily on imported pork and even started subsidizing at a rate of NT＄6 per kilogram from May 1, leading to a total cost of NT＄300 million and increasing the amount of pork from abroad."
The Ministry of Agriculture explained that the decreased number of hog farms was mainly due to environmental protection issues and rising feed prices, while some are renewing their equipment.