Yorkshire farmer and former NPA chair Richard Lister called for the Government to do more to support the pig sector in England, in line with other parts of the UK and Europe.
With feed costs having soared since the start of the Ukraine crisis, BBC Look North pointed out that farmers like Mr Lister are still losing around £50/pig.
“We have had incredibly hard times with the backlog of pigs – feeding them is very expensive to do. And we’ve got this massive cost of production, which we are not able to get from the market,” he told the programme.
Highlighting support that has been provided in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland and other EU countries, he added: “The Government should be giving us financial support. We’ve seen nothing from the UK Government, which is really disappointing when your competitors are getting help.”
The NPA’s Charlie Dewhirst said the industry can and will survive if retailers pay a fair price, but stressed that it was unsustainable for farmers to continue losing £50/pig.
You can view the feature HERE (from about 10 mins).