Pig prices are unchanged in the range of €1.60/kg to €1.64/kg. The weekly kill is running at up to 66,000 head per week and kill to date in 2020 is 15,000 head up on 2019.

The Cranswick slaughter plant in Northern Ireland has resumed operations and this will start to ease the backlog of fit pigs there. It could be some days before the plant gets up to full capacity.

Producers in the north and south of the country remain concerned about further possible outbreaks of coronavirus at slaughter or processing plants disrupting their weekly sales of pigs. However, IFA pigs chair Tom Hogan said that regular testing of staff has been taking place at these plants without finding any outbreaks.

“Hopefully that will continue. Clearly, the controls now put in place are working and I would commend the factories, the HSE and other authorities for the work they have done,” he said.