A Danish citizen panel presented its recommendations on the future of pig production to politicians at Christiansborg on Wednesday, calling for a smaller and more welfare-focused sector. The chairman of Danske Svineproducenter says the panel turned down an invitation to visit his pig farm.
According to DR, eight members of the panel handed over their report on September 2. Among them was Gunnar Sigaard, a pensioner from North Jutland and a former primary school teacher.
The recommendations were presented to Minister for Nature and Animal Welfare Christian Rabjerg Madsen (S) at a meeting hosted by the Folketing’s Environment and Food Committee. Sigaard told DR the experience was excellent and that politicians praised the panel’s work.
As stated in a press release distributed by Ritzau, the panel put forward eight recommendations and 33 initiatives. They are intended to feed into the political work on the coming pig sector agreement, known as the grisefirepart.
Per a separate release via Ritzau, the panel wants Denmark to move toward a much smaller and more welfare-focused pig sector. It calls for pigs to have far more space and better living conditions.
The report states that Denmark cannot continue with the type of pig production it has today. It also argues that pigs suffer from poor well-being and stress, and that the industry should be organized around the animals’ mental welfare.
Producers reject the criticism
Jeppe Bloch, chairman of Danske Svineproducenter, told DR he did not know whether to laugh or cry. He took part as an expert in a question session with the panel over Teams, but says his input was not taken on board.
Bloch calls the recommendations unrealistic and questions how well informed the panel is about actual pig production. He says he invited the members to see his pigs and offered to pay for the bus, but they declined.
He adds that farmers can do better and that improvements happen continuously, so the criticism is not justified. Bloch says the recommendations sound as if they were copied from the party program of Dyrenes Beskyttelse.
Sigaard confirmed to DR that the panel did not visit a pig farmer while drafting the recommendations. Members did watch videos of others visiting conventional pig farms.
Outside the panel’s scheduled meetings, Sigaard visited two pig farms on his own initiative together with one other member. One was organic and one was conventional. He says economic and planning constraints made farm visits too difficult to fit into the program.
Sigaard, who grew up with organic farming, described the state of Danish agriculture as embarrassing for his generation. He said he hopes his grandchildren will be prouder of Denmark once farming has improved.
The panel’s work began in January 2026 and ran across five meetings over four months, according to Ritzau. Sigaard describes the recommendations as broad and not directly realistic, but says a vision is needed to set a direction.
