2025 Taiwan's Pig Farming Industry: Current Status and Development

Taiwan's Livestock Scale and Current Pig Farming Status
Taiwan's livestock production value reaches approximately NT$185.8 billion annually (2021 data), accounting for about 34.6% of the total agricultural output value[1]. Among livestock industries, the pig industry ranks first and serves as an important pillar of Taiwan's agricultural economy[1, 2]. In 2019, the direct output value of pig farming reached NT$70.9 billion, accounting for 13.77% of agricultural output value, while the overall pig industry chain value reached NT$150 billion, with approximately 600,000 related employees[3].

Number and Distribution of Pig Farms
According to the pig population survey report at the end of November 2024, Taiwan currently has 5,664 pig farms, a decrease of 40 farms (-0.7%) compared to the end of May 2024, and a decrease of 140 farms (-2.4%) compared to the end of November 2023[4]. The continuous decrease in pig farm numbers is mainly concentrated in small farms with fewer than 199 pigs, with reasons including:

1. Aging farmers with no successors abandoning farming[4]
2. Small-scale black pig farms prohibited from using food waste for pig feeding[4]
3. Farm facilities unable to meet increasingly strict environmental regulations[4]
4. Rising feed prices affecting willingness to operate[5]

Pig Population and Distribution
The total pig population nationwide is 5.207 million heads, a decrease of 8,000 heads (-0.2%) from the previous survey and a decrease of 112,000 heads (-2.1%) from the same period last year[4]. Pig populations are mainly concentrated in central and southern Taiwan:

• Yunlin County: 1,554,282 heads, accounting for 29.23% of the national total[1]
• Pingtung County: 1,151,941 heads, accounting for 21.67% of the national total[1]
• Changhua County: 736,491 heads, accounting for 13.85% of the national total[1]
• Tainan City: 565,914 heads, accounting for 10.64% of the national total[1]
• Chiayi County: 356,305 heads, accounting for 6.70% of the national total[1]
• Kaohsiung City: 290,063 heads, accounting for 5.46% of the national total[1]

These six counties and cities combined account for 87.56% of the national total[1].

Industry Structure Changes
Taiwan's pig farming industry is moving toward specialization and scale development. The average breeding scale per farm has increased from 773 heads in 2018 to 940 heads in 2024[6, 4]. Farms with more than 1,000 heads account for 27.5% of all farms, with their pig population accounting for 72%[7]. This indicates that Taiwan's pig farming industry is developing toward large-scale, economy of scale, and batch feeding with professional division of labor[4, 8].

Taiwan's Pig Industry Chain Scale and Value
Taiwan's pig industry chain covers a wide range, from upstream feed production and breeding pig reproduction, to midstream pig raising, to downstream slaughter, processing, and sales, forming a complete industry chain[2, 3].
Industry Chain Value

1. Direct output value: NT$70.9 billion in 2019, accounting for 13.77% of agricultural output value[3]
2. Total industry chain value: Latest estimate of approximately NT$150 billion[3]
3. Related employees: Approximately 600,000 people[3]
4. Pork self-sufficiency rate: Approximately 90% in recent years[8]

Market Trading Situation
In 2023, the total number of pigs traded and auctioned in Taiwan's meat markets was 6,243,936 heads, a decrease of 373,054 heads (-5.64%) compared to 2022; the total auction value was NT$70.98 billion, an increase of NT$3.7 billion (+5.49%) compared to 2022; the annual average trading and auction price was NT$89.54 per kilogram, an increase of NT$7.97 (+9.77%) compared to 2022[4].

Import and Export Situation
Taiwan was once an important pork exporting country, but exports were forced to cease due to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 1997[9]. In 2023, Taiwan imported a total of 95,385 tons of frozen and chilled pork, an increase of 6.8% and 25.5% compared to 2022 and the 5-year average, respectively. The main source countries were Canada (41.3%), Spain (24.6%), and the United States (12.1%)[5].

Lifting of Pork Export Bans and New Industry Opportunities
Disease Prevention and Ban Lifting Process
Taiwan's pig farming industry has made significant progress in disease prevention:

1. Foot-and-Mouth Disease: Officially removed from foot-and-mouth disease areas in 2020, becoming a "foot-and-mouth disease-free zone without vaccination"[10, 9]
2. Classical Swine Fever: Starting January 2023, pigs other than breeding pigs stopped receiving swine fever vaccines, and starting July, all pigs nationwide stopped receiving vaccines[5, 10]
3. African Swine Fever: Successfully prevented the epidemic from entering, becoming one of the few African swine fever-free areas in Asia[5]
   Taiwan is expected to become a classical swine fever-free area as early as May 2025, making it the only country in Asia that is free from all three major pig diseases (classical swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, and African swine fever)[4, 9].

Export Market Development
With disease prevention achievements, Taiwan's pork export markets are gradually expanding:

1. Philippines Market: In 2023, Taiwan approved 7 breeding pig farms to export live breeding pigs to the Philippines, and simultaneously approved 6 pork product companies to export pork[5]
2. Singapore Market: Taiwan chilled pork was exported to Singapore for the first time, entering Singapore's high-end market[9]
3. Japan Market: As Taiwan becomes a swine fever-free area, Taiwan pork is expected to be exported to Japan[9]

Pig Industry Transformation and Equipment Demand
To enhance Taiwan's pig industry competitiveness, the government has promoted the "Comprehensive Transformation and Upgrading Plan for the Pig Industry in Response to Trade Liberalization" since 2021, guiding pig farms toward modernization[6, 11].
Main Transformation Directions

1. Modern Pig House Construction: 1,923 modern livestock houses were built from 2021-2024[7]
   
   • Water-saving elevated pig houses: 1,233 units, saving approximately 1.562 million tons of water annually[7]
   • Closed pig houses: Equipped with cooling pads, fans, and other environmental control equipment to adapt to extreme weather and reduce disease transmission risks[7]
2. Automation Equipment Introduction: As of the end of December 2024, 1,298 pig farms have been guided to introduce automated labor-saving facilities[7]
   • New sow farrowing pen units and pig ultrasound pregnancy detectors[7]
   • Individual sow intelligent feeding systems and electric boar carts for estrus detection[7]
   • Piglet handling labor-saving work platforms and pig house dead pig labor-saving transport machines[7]
3. Environmental Protection and Resource Recycling:
   
   • Biogas utilization: As of the end of December 2024, a total of 2.81 million pigs have been invested (1,083 biogas utilization equipment installations, 174 biogas power generation facilities)[6]
   • Manure and wastewater resource utilization: A total of 4,315 farms nationwide have invested in manure and wastewater resource recycling[6]

Foreign Pig Equipment Suppliers and Technology
With Taiwan's pig industry transformation and upgrading, domestic demand for advanced pig equipment has increased, and many internationally renowned pig equipment suppliers have entered the Taiwan market[11, 12, 13].
Major Foreign Equipment Suppliers

1. Big Dutchman (Germany):
   • Global supplier of agricultural technology and solutions, focusing on modern feeding systems for poultry, pigs, and livestock[14]
   • Products include automatic feeding systems, feed systems for both coarse and fine particles, special hopper designs to prevent feed bridging, etc.[15]
   • Represented in Taiwan by Kun Lun Trading Co., Ltd., which ranks first in Taiwan's livestock automation equipment market share[16]
2. WEDA (Germany):
   • Pig liquid feeding systems with 80 years of history and installation experience in pig farms in 50 countries worldwide (over 20,000 systems)[17, 18]
   • Equipment includes liquid feeding, fermented feeding, electronic feeding stations, ventilation systems, housing equipment, dry feed systems, etc.[18]
   • Represented in Taiwan by Melchers Taiwan Branch[18]
3. SKOV (Denmark):
   • Specializes in selling ventilation and management systems to major poultry and pig farmers worldwide[19]
   • Environmental control systems can monitor temperature, wind speed, number of animals in the house, and other data[11]
   • Owned by Big Dutchman Group, a German family enterprise producing agricultural machinery[19]

Main Equipment Types and Technologies

1. Environmental Control Systems:
   
   • Negative pressure cooling pad systems: Through cooling pads at the front of the livestock house and powerful exhaust fans at the rear, creating cool airflow to reduce summer temperatures inside the livestock house[11]
   • SKOV environmental control systems: Can monitor temperature, wind speed, ventilation volume, and other parameters to maintain optimal environment in pig houses[11]
2. Automated Feeding Systems:
   
   • Liquid feeding systems: Compared to traditional dry feed, can improve growth rates (feed intake +19%, digestibility +11%)[17]
   • Electronic feeding stations: Precisely control feed intake for each pig[18]
   • Automatic boar carts for estrus detection: Improve breeding quality and efficiency while reducing labor requirements[11]
3. Pig House Equipment:
   • Pneumatic lifting farrowing beds: When sows stand up, the farrowing bed automatically lifts to prevent piglets from being crushed[11]
   • Elevated pig houses: Reduce wastewater volume and odor, improving pig living environment[12, 13]

Industry Future Prospects
Taiwan's pig farming industry is facing a critical transformation period, with future development directions including:

1. International Market Expansion: As Taiwan becomes the only country in Asia free from the three major pig diseases, it will help increase pig industry export business[4, 9]
2. Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development: Continue promoting biogas reuse, manure and wastewater resource utilization, and other environmental measures to keep pace with global net-zero emission policies[6]
3. Intelligence and Automation: Introduce more smart pig farming technologies to solve labor shortage problems and improve production efficiency[11, 7]
4. Industry Image Enhancement: Through diverse channels and methods, transform the traditional image of pig farming from NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) facilities to welcome facilities[6]

Taiwan's pig farming industry is gradually establishing new competitive advantages through modernization transformation, disease prevention, and international market development, bringing new development opportunities to the industry[5, 6].

References

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