Initial situation
The crises of recent years and their impact on price developments on international markets, changing agricultural policy and social conditions (e.g. animal welfare) and the spread of animal diseases (e.g. African swine fever) are just some of the challenges that Austrian pig farming has to face. In this respect, specialist advice tailored to the respective husbandry methods and operational conditions is becoming increasingly important. In this respect, the working group advisory service has been an important educational and advisory focus for Austrian pig farmers for many years, with a focus on the higher qualification of the participants. The technical production and economic data recorded by the member farms is an essential basis for economic farm analyses. Their analyses provide important information on the operational situation and measures that can lead to an improvement in operational success.
Objective
The aim of the project is to support the working groups in the further development of the indicator scheme and the evaluation of farm data. The Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics and Mining (BAB) is responsible for offsetting the data presented in the Federal Report. In this respect, the focus is on collecting, checking and evaluating the working group data. The BAB also writes individual chapters of the Federal Report, for example on developments in the global pig market. The results of the Federal Report and the analyses and data comparisons it contains are an important tool for identifying operational strengths and weaknesses and for tapping into untapped potential. The data is also an important basis for scientific projects such as sector analyses or contribution margin calculations.
Status of the project
Five years ago, the federal reports of all working groups were restructured and streamlined to focus on essential content, graphics were modernized and a chapter introducing a member company was added. An employee was hired at the LFI to coordinate and finalize all federal reports. In 2019, the entire editing process (collection of content, layout, proofreading) for the Federal Report was transferred to the LFI staff. The work packages for the BAB in 2023 also included sending out the data sheets, data collection, data evaluation, organizing and chairing the editorial meeting, preparing the associated agenda and writing selected content for the federal report, including a short report.
Work 2024
The central work of the project in 2024 will again involve collecting, checking and evaluating the production-related and economic data submitted by the individual working groups. On the other hand, certain chapters for the Federal Report are to be written, a summary of the most important results is to be produced and a collection of the most important tables and graphs is to be compiled. The annual editorial meeting to be organized in spring serves to discuss and debrief the evaluation results between the federal states. At this meeting, the chapter responsibilities of the working group leaders for writing the current federal report are also determined. The meeting has been held as a video conference for some time. It is also planned to take part in various information events (Pig Expert Day, Winter Conference, Pig Expert Conference). The focus here is on technical in-depth knowledge and the exchange and contact with experts in the industry.