The chief executive of the National Pig Association (NPA), Lizzie Wilson, has called on retailers and consumers to back British pig farmers ahead of the Christmas period.
Wilson warned that there could be a reduced choice of favourite British pork products over the Christmas festive period, unless things change rapidly for pig farmers.
As pig farmers continue to lose money she said, many will have to make the difficult decision to either “reduce their herd or close”.
According to the latest Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) quarterly cost of production and margin estimations, pig producers were down £52/head in the second quarter of this year.
Wilson said that pig farmers have been struggling for two years, “as reflected in the nearly 20% reduction in the national breeding herd according to Defra’s (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’) June census”.
“This will potentially mean less British pork available on the supermarket shelf in the run-up to Christmas,” she said.
The message from the NPA is that retailers and consumers can do their bit to save the British pig sector by sourcing and buying British wherever they can.
“It is a challenging time for everyone, not just our pig farmers, but what will help is for retailers to continue to support our domestic supply by buying British Red Tractor pork wherever possible, and for shoppers to buy British too,” Wilson said.
“Pork is still very competitively priced and so provides excellent value for money when budgets are increasingly being squeezed.”
