Dales butcher urges shoppers 
to bring home the British bacon

The Yorkshire Dales Meat Company responded to a predicted worldwide pork and bacon shortage by asking shoppers to back Britain’s pork producers at the tills, warning that British pork could become scarce if they are not supported by consumers.

The move comes after figures released by Britain’s National Pig Association showed that the wash-out summer, combined with the severe drought in the United States, has massively inflated the price of pig feed.

The rise in overheads has plunged many farmers into a loss, with some producers losing up to £20 on every pig they rear. As a result many are opting to reduce the size of their herds with many simply giving up pig farming altogether.

The net result of this could lead to either a sharp rise in the price of pork or empty shelves as retailers struggle to meet demand.

Stephen Knox, managing director of the Yorkshire Dales Meat Company said: “Farmers are facing a really tough environment at the moment with the difficult harvest caused by poor weather worldwide. Although the demand for meat is increasing, there are significantly fewer farmers in this country compared with 10 years ago, as escalating costs are making many farm businesses unsustainable.

“This is really having an impact on farmers’ ability to supply quality British meat and preserving our farming heritage.

“Yorkshire Dales Meat Company prides itself on sourcing most of its produce from the local area and paying a fair price to farmers, enabling them to carry on the UK’s proud farming tradition.

“If we could encourage people to make a point of purchasing British pork it would go a long way to supporting British farmers through this challenging time.”

The NPA has warned that as many as 15,500 pigs a week, around 10 per cent of Britain’s weekly production, will be lost by Christmas if producers don’t receive a fair price soon.

Already the national herd is down 15,000 sows, which means by the time their progeny have worked through, the weekly kill will be down circa 6,000.