Figures from BPEX suggest heavier, fatter pigs going for slaughter contributed to the post-Christmas penny fall in the DAPP.
The organisation said farms holding onto pigs to sell after Christmas resulted in the 119,900 head killed in the week ending January 4 weighing a record average of 81.06kg deadweight – almost 2kg up on the previous week – with a probe measurement of 11.6mm.
BPEX says this resulted in a higher number of pigs outside normal contract specifications, and this will have contributed to the drop in the EU-spec DAPP, which dipped almost a penny to 168.89p/kg.