The British pig sector is on the brink of collapse with more than 170,000 slaughter-ready pigs backed up on farms, warn farm leaders.
The National Pig Association (NPA) and NFU south of the border have called on Defra Secretary of State, George Eustice, to convene an emergency summit with stakeholders from across the supply chain to address the industry crisis.
The organisations say the ongoing labour crisis in meat processing plants has resulted in more than 170,000 pigs waiting for slaughter on British farms, with estimates 35,000 healthy pigs have been culled and destroyed as a result of the backlog.
In a joint letter to Mr Eustice, NPA chairman Rob Mutimer and NFU president Minette Batters said the situation for pig farmer was deteriorating and most producers have been making an average loss of £25 per pig produced for the past year.
They said in the first week of the year some farmers reported that as few as 50% of contracted pigs were being taken for slaughter by processors, and on average 30% of the pigs processors are contracted to take from farmers are not going into the supply chain each week.
“The NPA and NFU are asking that you arrange a summit of the entire pig supply chain so that we can agree a plan to get these pigs off farms and onto people’s plates,” said the letter to Mr Eustice.
“All of these factors are taking a huge toll on farmers’ mental health as the crisis worsens every week, especially for those having to endure the trauma of culling healthy animals when there seems to be no end in sight,” said the letter to Mr Eustice.
It urged him to arrange a summit of the entire pig supply chain to agree a plan to get “pigs off farms and onto people’s plates” and said measures to help the industry – including extra visas for foreign butchers to come and work in pork processing plants – were not working as planned.
Mr Mutimer said the current situation on pig farms was “utterly dire” both in terms of the backlog and financially.
He said: “We are already seeing a significant drop in breeding herd numbers, and we fear that if nothing changes, we could see a mass exodus from this industry over the next 12 months.
“We need some urgent solutions now, which is why we are asking Mr Eustice to bring everyone together – and soon – to discuss how we can all work collectively to prevent this crisis becoming a catastrophe for the British industry.”
A Defra spokesman said: “Following our package of support measures, we expect progress to be made on reducing the backlog of pigs on farm in the coming months.
“We continue to work closely with all parts of the sector, and have extended the Private Storage Aid scheme until March 31, and launched a new Slaughter Incentive Payment earlier this month which increases the payment rate to £10 per pig.”
The spokesman was referring to schemes for England, however Scotland has a separate private storage scheme and a pig farmer hardship fund in operation.