The UK pig sector will be seeking positive improvements in our national and on-farm biosecurity in 2025, alongside a change of attitude from government – and better weather, according to NPA chair Rob Mutimer.
In his new year message, Mr Mutimer said: “Disease and biosecurity are never far from our thoughts as an industry and the amount of illegal meat being found at the ports, especially Dover, is particularly worrying with ASF continuing to spread on the continent.
“NPA, NFU and others continue to lobby hard on your behalf for tighter rules and better funding of enforcement at the borders which is proving stubbornly difficult to achieve but we will continue to push.
At home we have re-launched the ‘Muck Free Trucks’ campaign, as we have seen a rise in the cases of dysentery and other diseases that will only be contained and eradicated if we all take responsibility for our own actions in the coming months.”
Government trust
He highlighted how the government’s Budhet policies, includong reforms to agricultural property relief (APR), and business property relief (BPR), higher National insurance contributions and the pick-up truck tax are going to have a ‘serious impact on most of our businesses’.
“It is a real worry that these taxes are on both our asset values and cost of production – it smacks in the face of a government that is supposedly pro-business and growth,” he said.
“Whatever your views on these taxes my overriding worry is the first promise the Prime Minister made to the NFU this year was that he understood farming and would not touch APR.
“How are we going to have any trust in what the new administration say in any of our negotiation throughout the course of this parliament? Dealing with any organisation that you inherently don’t trust is very difficult, and this may well put our relationship with the Labour party back 10 years after they had made all the right noises prior to the election.”
Stable market
He welcomed the ‘reasonably stable pig market’ seen throughout 2024, with producers seeing positive margins in all four quarters.
“Although the market prices have dropped in the last two quarters, we have been fortunate that the cereals and protein prices have continued to be competitive through the year, even with a very small UK 2024 harvest,” Mr Mutimer said.
“Weather and labour have been the two major challenges for most producers. If we have many more winters like last year, we begin to question the viability of many outdoor business. At the same time, the whole sector still has a critical shortage of competent reliable staff.”
NPA support
He thanked members for their continued support of the NPA and encourage them to renew subscriptions as the association ‘needs all its members to continue to be an effective political lobbying organisation for the good of the pig industry’.
“Lizzie, Katie, Tom and Andrea have done an excellent job over the past 12 months, and I would like to publicly thank them all for their efforts,” he said.
“The new slimmed-down PIG group, with two new vice chairs, Robin Lawson and Michelle Sprent, has formed into a highly effective group with plenty of opinions, which will prove invaluable to Lizzie and the team, providing educated guidance for the next two-and-a-half years.”
YNPA Transformation
He also thanked Emma Wormington and Lee Thompson for the ‘incredible job’ they have done in transforming the Young NPA group, which he said was ‘fantastic for the future of the pig industry and all of us that work in it’.
“Please can I encourage all people in the industry under 40 to consider joining the group whether you are working on farm or in the allied sector. It is a fantastic vehicle for networking and informal training in an industry that, by its own nature, can be rather insular and, at times, lonely for young members,” he added.