The Irish pig price fell this week in some processing plants by 4c/kg. Farmers are now receiving quotes for this week ranging from €1.44c/kg up to €1.48 or €1.50 – €1.54/kg for some. Margins have been squeezed in recent times for farmers; to make a comparison, the avg composite feed price for SEP 2020 was 307/tonne while this SEP the avg increased to €346/tonne, an increase of €39/tonne.
There are other issues implicating pig farming at present; one of the most pressing being the labour shortage experienced across the sector which has made it difficult for some farmers to sell their pigs in accordance with their management practices, in a timely fashion. Throughput figures will be down this week due to the bank holiday. In normal times, farmers would have built in latitude to accommodate for this, but this year some might find this more difficult than others. The urgency on issuing work permits for Non-EEA workers remains a priority, in order for processing plants to have the capacity for more pigmeat.
