Pig producers under pressure
They are also finding it hard to secure further funding from banks, he said, after meeting the Irish Banking Federation.
However, no immediate new measures to help pig farmers were mentioned in recent announcements at national or EU level.
A draft motion calling for such measures could not be agreed at the recent European Commission Advisory Group on Pigmeat, because of disagreements over matters of detail, and the European Commission’s agriculture department has consistently refused to acknowledge that the pig sector is in crisis.
The Department of Agriculture met with the IFA before Christmas on pigmeat, and is following proposals made then with parties such as Bord Bia and Teagasc.
The European Commission has dismissed calls for export refunds on the basis that EU prices are close to world market price, and considers that aids to private storage will simply result in the release of stocks in the spring, as prices begin to recover.
According to Fine Gael agriculture spokesman Andrew Doyle, input costs in the pig sector in 2010 have risen from €19 million to €25m per month, due to rising grain prices. “Farmers are being told to sell pigs and to send a cheque before feed can be supplied,” he said “They must already sell animals below optimum weight, which cuts profits massively. At present there is a threat of a 15% reduction, which will lead to the closure of one mill and one processor.”
IFA national pigs committee chairman Tim Cullinan has estimated farmers’ losses at up to €15 per pig.
