Pig sector still struggling as support measures fail to deliver

Government support schemes have failed to tackle the crisis on British pig farms, according to sector leaders and processors.

The government introduced three support schemes in October:

• Private Storage Aids (PSA) – an incentive to store pigmeat to reduce supply and bolster prices
• Slaughter Incentive Payment Scheme (Sips) – to increase the throughput of pigs by contributing towards extra costs involved in operating additional slaughter shifts at abattoirs
• Temporary visas for butchers – to encourage overseas workers and reduce the labour shortage to boost throughput.

See also: Welfare kills mount as pig farms lose money

But according to National Pig Association (NPA) chief executive Zoe Davies, all three schemes have failed to make any difference at all.

Dr Davies said that, although the intention was good, the introduction in the run-up to Christmas was not thought through.

To date there is nothing in storage with just one processor application to the PSA actually placed, she said.

“Processors are unwilling to switch pigmeat into storage when they are flat out trying to hit demand for the Christmas market,” she said.

“It would be too big a gamble to store pigmeat on the basis that prices will be better when it comes back onto the market.”

Limited interest

Payments to encourage an increase in slaughter via the Sips had also failed to attract interest.

This was not just because of the lack of available workers to carry out the culling, Dr Davies said, but also constraints in the small print of the scheme.

The rules dictated that stock slaughtered through the scheme must go for storage or onto the export market, she explained.

“It will be a miracle if this gets used by the time the scheme ends on 20 December for the same reasons as the PSA – processors are focused on selling onto the home market,” she said.

Temporary visas

The third scheme to encourage workers from abroad has also broken down with only a handful recruited, according to the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA).

The notion that government recruiters would be able to succeed where specialist employment agencies had not was short-sighted, a BMPA spokesman said.

“We have stated the difficulties in attracting workers, especially immediately before Christmas.

“Workers in eastern Europe do not want to leave their existing permanent jobs for a temporary visa to work in Britain,” the spokesman said.

However, at least the government recruiters were now experiencing first-hand the difficulties abattoir companies had highlighted since the start of 2021, she said.

Crisis continues

With schemes failing, pig producers continue to face low prices and penalties as a backlog of animals go overweight.

Prices of just 70p/kg are being paid for out-of-spec finished pigs, despite an attempt by the BMPA to help by lifting weight constraints in its assurance scheme.

The NPA has reported that older sows are being culled on farms as their values have slumped.

“This time last year, cull sow prices were £1/kg but they have dropped to just 26p/kg,” said Dr Davies. Farmers could not even afford to pay for transport at that price, she said.

Dr Davies also highlighted the impact of welfare culls to alleviate the backlogs, where the sudden influx of pigmeat has wiped 4p/kg off the deadweight price.

“This means the SPP comes down for everyone, so we are encouraging buyers to pay on a liveweight basis instead,” she said.

“The simple step protects the deadweight price, which is the main indicator and standard in the sector.”