Dirty mass-production of pigs
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV) has a history of smelly barns. In communist times, huge animal factories were built and abandoned again after Germany was reunited. The ground is heavily nitrate-polluted, but still the MV state government is actively trying to attract more pig farmers to the region. This is contradicting studies showing that local production is uncompetitive, that only very big farms with few employees are likely to make profits, and that every new pig farm drives one elsewhere out of business. Already there is an overproduction of meat in Europe of 9% and the price for pork has been on the decline for years.
Pig farmers can get subsidies, encouraging the use of the old structures from before 1990. Own land resources (for depositing manure) used to be, but is no longer a requirement for receiving subsidies. Now EU-subsidies for “development of rural areas” can be directed towards industrial pig farming. To make Germany more attractive, manure standards have been lowered. There are no fines for overusing manure and the allowed amounts have been increased.
The government justifies attracting pig farms to MV as an attempt to create employment in an area that is being abandoned by young people because they see no future there. However, those who remain strongly object to the pig factory boom, because of its huge impact on the region. Additional to the environmental effects, these huge industrial farms give very few jobs while destroying employment at smaller farms. (And people taking jobs at the factory farms suffer suffocating working conditions and extreme stress due to under-staffing). The tourist sector suffers as well when the region loses its natural character. Locals also argue that animals deserve better conditions.
The pig farm investors are often anything else but local. Many of them are from the Netherlands, where, due to massive overuse of manure, pig factories are being shut down. In Medow, MV, there is a scandalous example of a pig farm owned by Dutch investor Straathof, known in The Netherlands for repeatedly disregarding regulations. The farm with 15.000 pigs opened before all facilities were built and stored dead pigs outside, causing horrible smells. An illegal canal leading from the manure storage to a nearby nature reserve was found. Locals protested for months; the government met their “smell protocols” with a study finding there was no considerable smell – the study was conducted over 3 days when the wind blew in the other direction. Straathof now has plans for new pig factory farms in the region.
