Ireland’s pig sector leaders have called for the country’s pig compound feed millers to reduce feed prices immediately, claiming that there’s currently a £44 a tonne gap between feed production and farmgate costs.
“According to the Teagasc figures, a tonne of compound feed could be milled (ex-port) for €222/tonne (£198/t) in September, while farmers are being forced to pay up to €270/t (£241/t) for an equivalent compound ration,” said the Irish Farmers’ Association’s pigs committee chairman, Pat O’Flaherty. “Even when transport costs are factored in, the gap is enormous and completely unjustified.”
Pointing out that feed makes up over 70% of the cost of producing a pig, Mr O’Flaherty (pictured above) added that farmers are “very sensitive” to movements in feed prices and that a €50/t (£44/t) cost cut would make a massive difference to a pig farmer’s bank balance.
“A lower feed cost would make it more feasible to move the feed credit amount into a term loan which is more sustainable for both farmers and the mills, and this is the direction in which IFA would like to see farmers moving,” he added.
IFA has therefore requested meetings with all the millers to discuss pricing, commenting that decreases in feed prices are “long overdue”.