The performance of Hungary’s pork, poultry and milk industry grew at an outstanding pace in European Union comparison in the first half of 2024, and sheep and cattle exports also grew significantly, the state secretary for agriculture and rural development said. Growth of pork and poultry slaughter was the 3rd highest in the EU, and milk purchases were the 4th highest, Zsolt Feldman said, citing EU data. The number of poultry slaughtered grew by 14% and that of pigs by 8%, he added. Live cattle exports were up by 12% in the first five months of the year, and sheep exports were up by 25%, he said.
Feldman said farmers were able to better use the opportunities offered by an improving economic environment thanks to government measures to boost funding for the sector and “the largest modernisation programme since the change of regime” in 1989. The government’s Rural Development Programme has channelled 491 billion forints (EUR 1.2bn) into investments in animal husbandry, besides record funding paired with EU funding flowing into the sector, Feldman said.