Pig production in Slovenia is among stock-farming and agricultural branches that do not meet pork demands. A survey entitled "Possibilities of reorganisation in pig production for family farms" was organised in order to evaluate possibilities to reorganise family farms for pig production. The average number of pigs per farm in Slovenia is 4.4. There are 1012 swine farms of at least 20 breeding sows or 80 fatteners. Pig production is more developed in the regions of Celje, Murska Sobota, Novo mesto and Ptuj where farmers are traditionally more interested in pig farming. The basic condition for pig farming is the size of homestead with sufficient arable land (at least 4 ha). According to agricultural advisors there are only 16500 such farms in Slovenia. Only two thirds of them are capable to produce more than three quarters of forage for pigs on their own. Near two thirds of those farms are located in the centre of villages, 30% of them are on village borders, and only 6.6% out of village (at least 200 m far). Farms have many old buildings, where, according to agricultural advisors, 250153 headspaces for fatteners could be attained. According to the survey, 4248 farms are interested in pig farming. There are good possibilities for sale of either weaners for further fattening, fatteners for slaughter, or heavier fatteners (140 kg) for sale for home consumption (altogether 205900 pigs). In addition, an important finding is that it is possible to sell 333330 kg of meat products (8500 pigs with 140 kg weight) on the farmyard or via touristic activities. Agricultural advisors agree that family farm pig production should be encouraged in the lowland parts of Slovenia, and should conform to ecological and ethological requirements. Furthermore, it is important to educate breeders for intensive market production of high quality fattening pigs.
 

Key words: Slovenia, family farms, pig production, reorganisation