Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions, has decided to compensate farmers who give up pig farming. In two such calls, 175 farmers with around 182,000 pigs have benefited from the money.

The average farm size was over 1000 pigs. The Flemish regional authorities have already succeeded in reducing the number of pigs by as much as 200,000 head.

This has resulted in compensation payments of €22 million to farms, or around €120 per pig.

The average age of farmers who give up production is 57 years, indicating that the decision to close a farm is usually made because there is no one to take over the farm.