Pig farmers in crisis join lobby for fairer deal

Protesters from across the country staged a demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament to highlight the crisis engulfing the industry, with many pig farmers facing being forced out of business by prices which they say do not reflect the cost of production.

Pig farmers currently face huge dramatic rises in animal feed costs and many warn they will simply go out of business or be forced to cut production drastically if they do not get a higher price soon.

However the level of payment they receive per pig has remained static through the crisis despite supermarkets and processors continuing to report record profits.

Farming leaders said they were also concerned that retailers were importing increasing amounts of lower welfare pork from abroad, undercutting UK producers.

A report released last night by the pig farming industry estimated that supermarkets make £16m in profit each week from pork and pork products while processors make around £8m, meaning farmers are currently losing as much £20 on every pig they sell.

Organisers said the objective of the protest was to encourage shoppers to demand British pork from major supermarkets in the hope that the increased demand will result in better prices for UK producers.

Barney Kay, of the National Pig Association, said: “This is an SOS to supermarkets, processors, consumers and MPs. UK animal welfare standards are among the highest in Europe.

“If British farmers cut pork production or go out of business consumers will lose the choice to buy high welfare produce and could also face far higher prices in the long term as supply falls.”

A similar protest by farmers two years ago was successful in persuading supermarkets to increase their payments but Mr Kay said that the current situation was far worse and that the high levels of overheads they faced were set to stay for the foreseeable future.

The farmers were joined by several celebrities including Liz McClarnon from pop band Atomic Kitten and former swimmer Sharron Davies, as well as a number of MPs including Graham Stuart, (Beverley and Holderness) and Richard Bacon (South Norfolk).

Mr Bacon said: “Supermarkets are not currently fulfilling previous commitments to stock higher levels of British pork and I hope this is something we can change.”

However retail leaders challenged the protesters’ arguments, saying that shoppers wanted low prices and that supermarkets were making efforts to support British farmers.

British Retail Consortium food director Andrew Opie said: “Supermarkets do not generally pay farmers directly for their pork. The direct relationship is between farmers and processors.

“Blaming retailers ignores the importance of the buying decisions made by manufacturers and caterers. The Government should also be questioned about its own procurement policies.

“Keeping shop prices down is the right thing to do in the current financial climate. Making pork products more expensive will just cause customers to buy less, the opposite of what farmers want.”