The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) National Pig Committee chair Roy Gallie is calling for further increases in the pig price paid to producers due to the tight supplies of pigs on the market.
He said that prices are continuing to rise in other European countries, however Irish producers have not seen an increase in price since April.
“The average pig farm’s accumulated losses are in excess of €500,000 from late 2021 to early 2023 and it will take a sustained period of time operating at a profitable margin to recover,” he said.
Pig price
Members of the IFA Pig Committee have been in discussions with retailers, processors and secondary processors on pig price.
As the average Irish price currently stands at €2.34/kg, Gallie urged pig producers to demand a higher return from factories.
“There is ample justification this week for a further increase for the pig price.
“It is only possible for producers to recoup their losses within this calendar year if there is another substantial increase in the pig price of 10c/kg,” he said.
The number of sows in the main pig producing EU member states has fallen by one million between January and March when compared with the same period in 2022.
Overall EU slaughter figures are back 7.7% or 4.77 million pigs.
“Denmark is back 16.3%, Germany back 8.0%, Spain is back 9% and in Ireland we are back 11% year to date on fattening slaughter figures with a further 2% drop already in the pipeline.
“This trend will continue if pig producers do not receive the market price for pigs that is available in other European countries,” the IFA chair said.
“This tightening in supplies is reflected by increased pig prices available to producers across Europe with further rises given for last week’s pigs including a rise of 5c/kg for German pig producers, bringing their average price to €2.43/kg.
“UK Red Tractor pigs from this island are fetching close to €2.60/kg from the UK market,” Gallie added.