Producers outraged by the fall in pig prices

PRODUCERS are outraged by the drop in pig prices, says the Irish Farmers’ Association. IFA pigs and pigmeat committee chairman, Tim Cullinan, said demand on the Continent is up, yet Irish processors cannot secure better prices for producers.

Although processors have stated that prices here would rise if those across the EU increased week on week, Cullinan said this simply wasn’t happening and the current situation could not continue, as pig producers were losing money. “Pig producers are living on a knife edge, between being stretched on credit and then losing money, as retailers refuse to dip into their own margins to pay a realistic price for pigs,” he said.

“Processors have stated, time and again, that this is because of imports undercutting the market, taking up shelf space, and, ultimately, the secondary processing sector’s refusal to support Irish. The fact that this imported meat is labelled to appear Irish exacerbates that situation,” he said.