This is a subscriber-only article
Pig farmers have been left questioning how much longer they can sustain production following the latest cuts to price. On Friday, Rosderra reduced quotes for their suppliers by 4c/kg to €1.38/kg.
Karro in Cookstown also reduced their quote by 4c/kg leaving them level with Kepak, Stauntons, Dawn Pork and Bacon at €1.42c/kg. Tom Sherman, IFA pig committee member, said producers were continuing to lose money at a rate they could not sustain.
Latest estimates place the gap between the price per kilo and the cost of production per kilo at 20c/kg as farmers continued to rely on credit services.
“How much more credit can banks and feed mills give to farmers before they have to say stop? The amount of people who have exited and are thinking of exiting is frightening,” Sherman said.
He estimated that roughly 10,000 breeding sows had exited the system and that the number of AI serves would continue to drop.
Sherman said the latest drop had been unwarranted as the home market was strong and that many were surprised by Rosderra’s decision. Pig prices had increased by 4c/kg in September.
African swine fever
He said: “You’d have to question are factories starting to stockpile a supply of cheap meat? There are predictions of a price rise in the spring due to ongoing issues with African swine fever (ASF) in China and on the continent.
“China is slaughtering a lot of sows because of ASF. While that is causing turbulence in the price right now, at the end of the next cycle there should be an increased demand for imported pigmeat.”
He said that Ireland would have a major opportunity if ASF could be kept out of the country but warned the biggest risk was from secondary processors importing pigmeat from the continent.
SHARING OPTIONS: