Pig farmers warn of gaps on shelves as producers start to cut back numbers

'The price of feed has totally eroded all margins. I’d estimate up to 20% of Irish pig farmers are really in extreme pressure.'

Teagasc forecasts the average size 600-sow unit will lose over €430,000 this year.

Crippled Irish pig farmers say they are already scaling back production and say gaps appear on shelves if producers are not paid the prices they urgently need to stay afloat.

The industry is on its knees in Ireland as higher input costs have become the straw that broke the camel’s back coming on the back of several successive challenges — first of all, market loss due to Brexit, then the CO2 shortage, African swine fever challenges and Covid-linked plant closures to name a few.