Pig Farmers Undertake Massive Investment to Comply with Sow Housing Legislation

IFA National Pigs and Pigmeat Committee Chairman Tim Cullinan said it was very positive to see that over 80% of farmers are almost fully compliant with the sow housing legislation at this point.
He said this represents a massive investment on Irish farms by producers despite the severe financial difficulties experienced by the pig industry over the last two years.

Mr. Cullinan said “The remaining producers are working towards compliance and we are confident Irish farmers will be fully compliant by the deadline. Most of the producers that are not finished the work at this point have had difficulties securing planning permission and farmers could not apply for a grant until full planning was given. There were also delays as the grant scheme was closed for considerable period of time in 2011”.

“Considering the difficulties on farms, the commitment shown by farmers to get this work completed demonstrates the importance of the sector and the willingness of farmers to be amongst the world’s best producers,” concluded Tim Cullinan.