‘Thousands of pig farming jobs at risk’

THOUSANDS of workers on Ireland’s 500 pig farms are at risk of losing their jobs as the sector is suffering cumulative losses of around €1 million a week, according to Irish Farmers Association (IFA) president John Bryan.

Mr Bryan told delegates at the IFA’s annual general meeting the farm group would be intensifying pressure on processors to secure better prices from retailers and to pass those gains back to farmers.

The IFA will also put pressure on Government to introduce a long-promised code of practice for retailers, and pressurise banks and feed millers to ensure finance is available to help farmers meet feed bills that have almost doubled in the last six months alone.