In the south-western corner of Denmark, Klaus Rehse works as CEO of Tønder Kartofler A/S, a potato producer. However, half the company’s revenue stems from extensive pig production distributed between three farms. Tønder Kartofler produces a total of 14-15,000 pigs for slaughter a year. This figure could be higher, but Klaus Rehse is unable to get his hands on enough piglets.

Klaus Rehse, a pig producer, gives a dressing-down to all the producers who send their pigs to Germany. They should instead be supporting the Danish system.

It’s very hard to find a reliable supplier of piglets. We could easily boost production by a couple of thousand, but unfortunately many piglets end up in Germany, says Klaus Rehse with his distinctive German accent.

He qualified as an agricultural technician and comes from Wuppertal. About 20 years ago he settled in southern Jutland on a farm with about 1,200 pen places and 45 hectares of land.

Best in the world
When I arrived in Denmark, there was no question about it. Danish pigs were the best in the world, and Danish Crown was the best cooperative. The Danish system was the envy of the world. It still is. And I get tired of people criticising and complaining the whole time, says Klaus Rehse, who recently attended a meeting at the head office in Randers with many other pig producers, and where he said, among other things, that the owners need to stand together in times of crisis.

It’s a critical time, and we are all under pressure. Some feel tempted to sell their animals in Germany to achieve a short-term profit. But I think we risk jeopardising far more and eventually ending up with a system where we are all weaker in an opaque market, he says, adding:

We must therefore deliver all the pigs we can for operations to run smoothly at the production plants. It keeps the costs per pig down and everyone benefits.