Increasing pig prices have resulted in farmers being able to catch up on essential maintenance work.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal this week, IFA pig committee chair Tom Hogan said positivity in the sector has returned after a sustained loss-making period.

According to Hogan, quotes of €1.72/kg for pigs are “readily available” and farmers should be pushing hard to achieve these prices.

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“Yes, things are much better now than what they were. We had a period of a couple of years there where things were tight and no pig farmer was making money,” Hogan said.

Price surge

The surge in prices is being driven by a strong demand in China as well as a reduction in the European pig herd.

“China is being very good to us here. They’re short of pigs after a major cull of sows in the past while. There is avian flu over there which has impacted poultry consumption in China. Then we have seen a reduction in the European herd of 2% to 3% ... all of this has helped us.”

For the best part of two years, pig farmers here were receiving well below the accepted cost of production. This, according to Hogan, put a stop to on-farm improvements.

“The extra money coming into farms is helping farmers catch up on work that needs to be done … maintenance and improvement works. There’s electrical work, steel work and the like that needs to be taken care of.

“Pig farms are high-throughput businesses and there’s always a need to make improvements,” Hogan added.

Pig conference to look at antimicrobial resistance

The Irish Pig Health Society symposium takes places on 11 April in the Charleville Park Hotel, Co Cork.

Speakers from Holland, the UK and Ireland will form the lineup at this year’s event sponsored by Interchem. The keynote speaker is John FitzGerald, chair of the UK’s Pig Health and Welfare Council’s Antimicrobial Use Sub-Group.

John will address the issue of antimicrobial resistance and outline steps already taken by the UK industry in order to reduce and refine the use of critically important antibiotics, while also discussing the implications of a potential ban of in-feed Zinc Oxide in Europe.

Admission is €25 per person (or €50 with evening meal). Any further enquiries for the event or to partake in the farm tour, can be made directly to IPHS president Colin Marry, on 087-248 8792 or event organisers Green Acre Marketing on 051-399 760.