Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, will meet with pig farmers tomorrow (Thursday, February 3) to address the ongoing issues that are crippling the sector.
Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Pigs Committee chair, Roy Gallie, told Agriland that this is a ‘national crisis meeting’ that will involve all pig farmers of Ireland.
And they will be seeking a rescue package that will address the urgent, short-term issues facing them, as well as one that will assist them into the future.
The meeting will take place at 3:30p.m at the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel, Naas Road, Dublin. All pig farmers are invited to attend, according to the IFA.
“An invitation is being issued to all pig farmers,” he said.
“We are hoping for a large attendance from them, and from ancillary members too, representing the feed and processing side of the industry.”
In the face of rising energy prices, increased input costs, processing-capacity issues, and a difficult global market, generally, pig farmers have been calling for greater support from government.
Confirmation that Minister McConalogue will attend the meeting tomorrow is heartening, Gallie said.
“I am absolutely heartened by this, because the sector is in dire straits, losses are too large. We have to address this head on, and we need a rescue package both for the short- and the long-term.”
He said the immediate pig-sector priorities – and what they will raise with Minister McConalogue tomorrow – include securing capital funding for famers; and addressing the below-cost selling of pork products.
The latter issue, Gallie said, involved ensuring that a food regulator would be appointed without delay.
Pig crisis raised in Dáil
This crisis within the pig sector was raised in the Dáil last night (Tuesday, February 1) with Deputy Matt Carthy addressing a number of issues with Minister McConalogue including:
- The lack of labour in pig-processing facilities;
- Access to finance;
- The suspension of any levies imposed on pig farmers;
- Direct support for farmers via the Brexit Adjustment Reserve.
“The sector has been hit hard by a perfect storm of crises, any one of which would have been a calamity but together they represent an existential threat unless real action is forthcoming,” he said.
Minister McConalogue said that the pigs sector played a pivotal role in a national economic context and the continued development of the pigmeat sector is a “real priority” for him.
He said he is very much aware of the challenges that pig farmers are facing.
He outlined recent actions taken by him in response to these challenges including a recent meeting with pig farmers; with the main banks; as well as the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland to discuss the Brexit Impact Loan Scheme and the Covid-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme.
The support is there to address the financial needs of pig farmers, he said.
He added that Minister of State, Deputy Martin Heydon, chaired the pig roundtable last week, and had a further detailed discussion with all the stakeholders, including farm representatives, banks and the processing and feed industries on the current difficulties facing pig farmers.
State supports for the sector, he said, existed in the form of promotion of quality-assured Irish pigmeat by Bord Bia, as well as advisory services from Teagasc.
“I will continue to engage with them [pig farmers] over what I know will be a challenging period ahead and seek to support them through that.”