IFA say bank support for pig farmers vital in period of difficulty

IFA sources said Tuesday it was vital that banks support their pig farmer customers through the current period of difficulty, with one of the smaller slaughterers indicating to his suppliers that this week’s pig price was to be cut 12c/kg — although IFA said larger processors have been good to their word in terms of a static pricing policy, and they have been told most processors intend to “catch up”, in terms of payment and slaughtering volumes, before Christmas.

IFA also welcomed indications from processors that no backlog in pigs will be evident over the Christmas week.

They said the big export plants generally quoted this week for pigs at €1.40 to €1.46 flat rate, plus the welfare bonus of two to six cent.