The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) National Pigs Committee will meet on Wednesday, December 6 in the Killeshin hotel, Portlaoise to discuss the consistent drop in pig prices.
The meeting will begin at 2:00p.m with presentations from representatives of the feed industry, Teagasc and Bord Bia.
According to Bord Bia’s most recent figures for the week ending November 26, the average price paid for grade E pig prices in Ireland stood at €2.02/kg deadweight.
The total throughput to date for 2023 stands at 2,930,785.
This is roughly 299,000 head below the corresponding period in 2022, or 9% below.
Chairman of the IFA National Pigs Committee Roy Gallie said that there needs to be an increase in people eating pig meat.
Gallie spoke about pork in shops not meeting taste standards, and said there needs to be more done to add value to meat from when it leaves the farm gate.
“It’s a great protein source and should be on a lot more restaurant menus. It should come into daily consumption to a much greater level,” Gallie said.
“There’s a lot more we can be doing at Bord Bia and at processor level to add value to pork meat, so that it can be marketed better and get more back for the farmer,” he added.
Pig prices elsewhere
Gallie said that the Chinese pig market is “suffering horrendously”, and said that “once China hiccups, we catch a cold”.
Looking at the European Union in comparison to Ireland, prices are following the pattern of steadily declining, but remain slightly higher, with the most recent average price calculated at €2.12/kg deadweight, according to Bord Bia.
Gallie said that there is nobody new coming into the pig sector and that whoever is already there is “hanging on by their gritted teeth”.
“There’s guys out there saying why am I doing this? And there’s no young people coming in. Why would a young person be attracted to an industry like this?
“People are probably thinking, if I left the sector now could I pay my debts off? But what a way to exit the industry. With nothing to show for all your work,” Gallie said.
According to the Teagasc Outlook 2024 Economic Prospects for Agriculture report published this week it will continue to decrease in 2024 by 11%, while a small drop in production costs is also expected.
Irish pig production is forecasted by Teagasc to increase slightly in 2024, and the margin over feed should drop to 61c/kg.
Gallie said with the rise of soya and labour, “we’re heading very close to break even again”.
“The only bit of money that we made during the year has gone to pay back a debt that we’ve built up over the last two years and it has far from filled the hole,” he said.