The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Ulster/north Leinster regional chair Frank Brady has said that a private storage aid package would be an “absolute disaster” for the pig sector.
The European Commission is coordinating a response to support farmers through the current financial crisis in the sector brought about by high feed costs and low pigmeat prices.
It is understood that the commission is set to propose the rollout of a private storage aid package for the industry.
The measure aims to ease market pressure in the EU and provide funding to help cover the costs of storing certain pigmeat products for a set period of time.
Agriland understands that the structure of the agreement would likely be similar to the package rolled out during the Russian embargo on EU pigmeat in 2015/2016.
However, IFA representative Frank Brady, who is also a pig farmer, told Agriland that such a measure would only push the issues facing the sector “down the road”.
He believes that the only winner from such an arrangement would be the people storing the pork who would stand to make money in the coming months when prices improve.
“No, that’s not a solution at all. It wouldn’t be what any pig farmer would want, in my opinion. I spoke to some of the processors as well and none of them would want this,” Brady stated.
Pig sector
Today (Thursday, March 10), the European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski is chairing a meeting of the European Pigmeat Reflection Group.
The commissioner noted that the European pig sector is heavily reliant on imports from Ukraine for a range of grains and oilseeds.
“It will be difficult to find alternative sources of supply in an already very tight and expensive market,” Wojciechowski said on Twitter.
Frank Brady said that the EU “should be looking at mechanisms to support the market that has collapsed”.
“This will right itself in a couple of months’ time but we need support now in order to be able to feed our pigs. And the only way that we’re going to be able to feed our pigs is through direct support from the government,” he said.
“We’re not looking for anything for nothing. We’re looking for a cashflow solution here. We’re quite happy to pay back a levy on our pigs.
“We appreciate that the minister gave us €7 million but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. We need €120 million,” Brady stated.
The IFA regional chair said that pig farmers are currently living “hour-to-hour” wondering where they are going to get the next load of feed for their animals.
IFA meeting
Meanwhile, Brady has called on everyone involved in the IFA in Monaghan to attend the branch’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) tonight in Castleblaney.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue is due to address the meeting, which will also be attended by IFA president Tim Cullinan.
Food security is likely to be top of the agenda as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues.
“I would appeal to all farmers in the region to come tonight and ask the difficult questions that need to be asked,” Brady concluded.