The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue will today (Wednesday, April 13) seek Cabinet approval for a support package for the pig and horticulture sectors.

The total value of the new package will be €16 million and will be targeted at the country’s 300 pig farmers, along with horticulture and vegetable growers.

This is the second such measure for the Irish pig sector in the past eight weeks; the new measure would result in a maximum pay out of €70,000 per pig farmer.

In February, McConalogue brought forward a €7 million package, which paid out up to €20,000 per farmer.

The sector, which has an annual output worth €1 billion, is in the midst of a financial crisis due to low pigmeat prices and high feed and energy costs.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) agricultural price input index for February revealed that the price of pig feed is up by a fifth compared to February 2021 and by almost 3% on the January price.

British Pig & Poultry Fair

The output index showed that the price farmers are achieving is down by 7.2% in a year.

The average pig producer is currently losing €56,000/month. Teagasc has outlined that between 20-30% of pig units are at risk of closure due to financial losses in the sector.

Chair of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Pigs Committee, Roy Gallie previously stated that producers are “staring into the abyss“.

The IFA held a protest in relation to the ongoing crisis outside the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in March.

The IFA, Meat Industry Ireland (MII) and the Irish Grain and Feed Association (IGFA) have tabled a proposed €100 million support package to the department.

As part of the new package being brought to Cabinet today, Minister McConalogue is also seeking to deliver €3 million to support horticulture and vegetable growers.

Growers of crops such as cucumber and tomatoes, as well as field vegetables, mushrooms and apples would all be able to apply for the support.