Welfare scheme grinds into action

By Peter Crichton

In the market place, marketing is starting to return to a more normal pattern of trading in non infected areas.

The position for producers in infected areas remains grim, although there are signs that the welfare disposal scheme launched a week ago is starting to grind into action.

The Intervention Board has reported over 300,000 phone calls from producers looking to dispose of all species.

Around a dozen abattoirs throughout the country have been identified as potential IB welfare abattoirs and slaughterings are now under way.

For those pig producers who have a genuine welfare problem arising from movement restrictions, options are now available for their stock to be sold into the scheme. This depends on their vets confirming a welfare problem exists and on the IB identifying adequate space at an approved abattoir.

Subject to passing these checks the IB will arrange for the collection of the selected stock and they are taken to the designated abattoir and then on to either landfill or rendering.

Payments to producers are significantly higher than under the classical swine fever arrangements with a flat rate 75 paid for sows and boars and finished pig payments calculated at 15 per head plus 55p per kg up to a maximum of 70per pig.

Group traders believe this will put something of a bottom in the market and will allow hard pressed breeders to find outlets for cull sows and boars.

However the scheme is only in place for an initial two months and may then be subject to either a price or overall review. Producers are advised that when similar arrangements were put in place during the BSE crisis, Intervention Board prices were moved sharply downwards after the end of the initial period.

Store pig movements in non infected areas are also starting to resume but remain subject to stringent licensing and vehicle disinfection procedures.

At this stage there is a reported shortage of approved public vehicle disinfection points although a number of farmers have now been successful in having their own premises registered for this purpose.

Weaner prices in non infected areas are being quoted in a wide range between 34 and 38 per head, compared with 31.50 under the welfare scheme.

A limited number of cull sows are also being sold onto the home market at prices equivalent to between 40p and 50p per kilo export spec, but only about 10% of the normal weekly kill is being handled in this way.

Finished pig prices have firmed up in the spot market with baconers traded anywhere between 95p and 102p per kg according to specification.

The latest GB AESA has however taken a knock, falling by over 6p to stand at 92.72p per kg. The lack of any auction market input may explain this sharp fall, which sees the index at its lowest price since last April.

However if import levels from other countries are restricted this should lead to a firmer home trade according to UK pig traders. At the same time the welfare price has effectively put a 92p per kg deadweight floor into the system.

• Peter Crichton is a Suffolk-based pig farmer offering independent valuation and consultancy services to the UK pig industry