LFD Holding

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LFD Holding
IndustryPig farming
PredecessorStraathof Holding GmbH
Founded2004; 22 years ago (2004)
FounderAdrianus Straathof
Headquarters
Genthin
,
Germany
Area served
Europe
Key people
René Drews (CEO)[1]
ProductsPiglets
Revenue€106.873 million[1] (2020)
OwnerTerra Grundwerte AG
Number of employees
405[1] (2020)
Websitelfd-holding.com

The LFD Holding is a German piglet production concern based in Genthin in Saxony-Anhalt. It is Germany's largest piglet producer and market leader.[1][2]

The company was founded in 2004 by Dutchman Adrianus Straathof as Straathof Holding GmbH. In 2014, it was renamed LFD Holding GmbH (LFD standing for Landwirtschaftliche Ferkelzucht Deutschland).[3] In 2020, the company was sold to the Swiss-based investment and holding company Terra Grundwerte AG.[1][4]

The company has been repeatedly criticized for animal cruelty. In 2021, a major fire completely destroyed the piglet production plant in Alt Tellin.

History

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Adrianus Straathof began raising pigs in the Netherlands in 1973.[5] In 2001, Dutch authorities took legal and police action against the farm due to animal cruelty and overcrowding in the stables.[6] After that, Adrianus Straathof expanded to eastern Germany.[7] At the end of 2004, Adrianus Straathof founded Straathof Holding GmbH based in Gladau as an umbrella organization for his various plants in Germany.[8] The Straathof Holding GmbH also opened plants in Hungary.[9]

File:Aktion Agrar - Protestaktion Alt-Tellin (21006481784).jpg
Protest against the piglet production plant in Alt Tellin

The company became a pioneer of large-scale animal husbandry in Germany[10] and one of the largest piglet producers in Europe.[11] In doing so, the company repeatedly violated legal requirements and was legally convicted. At the Gladau plant alone, authorities imposed fines amounting to €2.1 million from 2005 to 2014.[12] Subsequently, the company was subjected to protests from local residents, environmentalists as well as animal rights activists.[2]

After the investigative TV magazine Report Mainz reported on animal cruelty in December 2013 with video recordings by the animal rights organization Animal Rights Watch,[13] a three-day raid by police and the public prosecutor's office took place at the Gladau site in 2014.[14] As a result, in November 2014, the responsible district of Jerichower Land issued a nationwide ban on pig keeping and care against Adrianus Straathof, which was unique on this scale in Germany.[15]

After that, the concern was renamed LFD Holding GmbH on December 22, 2014.[3] Adrianus Straathof initially handed over the management to an employee. Finally, on June 4, 2015, Adrianus Straathof announced that Christian Graf Brockdorff and the law firm Schultze & Braun would act as trustees of his ownership.[16] At the same time, an advisory board was established, of which Adrianus Straathof became a member.[17]

On March 18, 2020, Adrianus Straathof sold the concern to the investor Terra Grundwerte AG, based in Switzerland and owned by Schleuniger founder Thomas-Andreas Martin Strehl.[18][19] Terra Grundwerte AG in turn appointed the Lindhorst Group based in Winsen an der Aller for the operational management.[20] In fiscal year 2020, revenue amounted to €106.873 million, of which roughly 94% (€100.543 million) were generated in Germany and 6% (€6.33 million) in other European countries.[1]

A major fire on March 31, 2021, completely destroyed the piglet production plant in Alt Tellin, resulting in losses of around 20% in the concern's piglet production capacity.[1] The public prosecutor's office estimated the damage at around €40 million.[21]

Structure

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The concern keeps sows and produces piglets. The operation of the individual plants is carried out through 14 subsidiaries.[1] The animal stock in the parent farms is 55,000 sows,[4] with which 4000 piglets are produced per day.[22] The piglets are sold to fattening companies in Germany and Europe, some are fattened in the concern's own fattening plants.[1]

For the trade and transport of the animals, the concern cooperates with the Venneker group.[23] With regard to the genetics of the animals, the concern cooperates with the pig breeding company Hypor, a subsidiary of one of the world's largest animal genetics groups Hendrix Genetics.[24]

Controversies

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Animal cruelty

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The company has been repeatedly criticized for animal cruelty. The animal rights organization Animal Rights Watch has published footage from inside the company's stables on several occasions, causing public criticism.[25][26] Consequently, the company has been subjected to restraints and fines by authorities.[12][27]

One major criticism concerned the brutal killings of piglets. In December 2013, Report Mainz reported that piglets were systematically beaten to death in plants of the company in a manner that violated animal welfare.[28] Official police evidence videos from 2014 documented piglets being brutally killed in the carcass box.[14] In 2019, Report Mainz as well as Der Spiegel published footage in cooperation with Animal Rights Watch, which again showed brutal killings of pigs.[29][30] An employee was subsequently fired and the plant manager was issued a warning.[27]

Another major criticism concerned the company keeping sows in gestation crates too narrowly so that the animals had far too little space.[31] The German Federal Administrative Court ruled that the company's practices were illegal and violated animal welfare.[32]

Technical deficiencies and operational problems

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File:Alt Tellin Brand der Schweinezuchtanlage 01.jpg
Fire at the piglet production plant in Alt Tellin

In April 2017, a technical failure led to a fire at the piglet production plant in Kleindemsin, the approximately 260 sows housed there died and damages of €2 to 2.5 million were incurred.[33][34]

In July 2018, a technical defect led to a fire at the piglet production plant in Gladau, the resulting damage was estimated at €250,000.[35][36]

In August 2019, there was a leak of high-percentage sulfuric acid at the piglet production plant in Alt Tellin.[37] Later the same month, more than 1,000 piglets died in Alt Tellin due to the failure of a ventilation system.[38] In March 2021, a major fire finally destroyed the entire piglet production plant in Alt Tellin consisting of 18 stables, only 1300 of the 51.000 penned sows and piglets survived.[39] The company was accused of having accepted the death of the animals in case of fire and of not having taken sufficient fire precautions.[40][41]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Consolidated financial statement for the fiscal year beginning on January 1, 2020 and ending on December 31, 2020 of LFD Holding GmbH, Genthin. Published in Bundesanzeiger on July 7, 2022.
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  3. ^ a b Consolidated financial statement for the fiscal year beginning on January 1, 2014 and ending on December 31, 2014 of LFD Holding GmbH, Genthin. Published in Bundesanzeiger on August 17, 2026.
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  8. ^ Day of the first registration of Straathof Holding GmbH, Gladau: December 22, 2004. In: Handelsregister B of Amtsgericht Stendal, HRB 4686.
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  25. ^ 3sat nano: Enge Haltebuchten, verletzte Tiere, tote Ferkel, broadcast on September 30, 2015
  26. ^ MDR Exakt: Was hat sich in den Ställen des Straathof Imperiums getan?, broadcast on March 30, 2016
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