It has been outlined that the home market for pork is “quite strong at the minute while the Chinese market has further strengthened as numbers remain tight”.
Chairman of the Irish Farmers’ Association’s (IFA’s) Pigs Committee, Tom Hogan, has called on pig processors to follow market trends and up the pig price tomorrow, Friday, September 27.
Speaking to AgriLand, Hogan reiterated: “Last year, pigs were produced for 10c/kg below the cost of production and the first six months of this year was basically at break even.
There’s still cash-flow and financial difficulties on farms and still a lot of bills to be cleared.
He stressed: “We [pig farmers] need a further 10c/kg rise tomorrow and even at that, some farmers would be only breaking even over the course of the last two years.”
Hogan said that Irish pig price is “behind the European average at the moment” and noted that pig farmers “would expect to be at least 10c/kg higher than we are at the minute”.
ASF
Commenting on the African swine fever (ASF) situation, Hogan outlined that the ASF threat is “still very real” to Ireland and called for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to continue spot-checks on people coming in from ASF positive countries.
“It seems to be continuing to spread,” Hogan explained.
Figures would suggest 35% of the herd is gone in China and a 50% reduction by year end is forecasted.
Concluding, Hogan warned: “There has been a substantial number of pigs culled in Vietnam as well; the figures are frightening to say the least.”