Despite the decreasing in the number of commercial pig farms in the last several years, the total number of agricultural enterprises that farm pigs is approximately 1.7 thousand. However, the main core and at the same time the driving force of commercial pig farming is represented by a relatively small number of pig farms. The given rating confirms this thesis to the full extent: the total breeding stock of the enterprises included into TOP-55 accounts for more than ¾ of the total number of commercial sows in Ukraine (almost 161 thousand heads), and the total annual sales of slaughter pigs represent 68% of total supply of live pigs, produced on agricultural enterprises (351 thousand tones).
Although only 40% of the pig farms that entered the top-30 largest operators of pork market managed to increase their pig stock, the absolute majority of them (25 out of 30) were able to implement partially or fully their development plans in 2019. Those plans included: improving animal welfare and production performance, to develop the infrastructure of the enterprise, to expand production capacity through construction or reconstruction. And despite the difficult 2019 and rather turbulent beginning of 2020, almost all participants of the current TOP have plans for further development of the enterprises. The plans include reconstruction and/or modernization of the facilities, construction of the new ones, purchasing breeding stock and increasing it by means of domestically bred animals. Therefore, in spite of all the difficulties of working in the industry and multiple uncertainty factors, the commercial pig breeding in Ukraine does not slow down.
