NPA reiterates calls for government support to alleviate potential welfare crisis

The NPA has reiterated its calls for the government to provide urgent financial support for the pig sector to avert potentially serious welfare problems, amid fears pigs will start backing up on farm again over the coming weeks.

With the pig sector facing a uniquely challenging set of market conditions, the NPA proposed a comprehensive support package for the sector to the government in September.

This included both financial measures, including a proposed Slaughter Incentive Scheme and Private Storage Aid to remove the surplus of pigs expected to build up over the autumn, alongside various non-financial measures.

The NPA has not yet heard officially from Defra how the department intends to take forward the proposed support package.

However, appearing in front of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee last week, farming minister Stephen Morgan announced that he will be convening an emergency industry summit, one of the requests made by the NPA. This will discuss improved market monitoring and forecasting, he said.

Defra subsequently added a few more details, including that the summit will ‘bring producers, processors and other supply-chain stakeholders together to support industry led solutions, making the whole system more resilient’.

The summit will explore, among other issues, what potential improvements could be made to market monitoring and forecasting and fairness in the supply chain and finding ways to stimulate demand for domestically produced pigmeat, the department explained.

The date of the summit will be confirmed in due course.

Support needed

However, NPA chief executive Lizzie said the absolute priority for the pig sector now is support to address a potential autumn and winter backlog on farm. An NPA survey revealed that the impacts of multiple processors serving notice on producers earlier this year was likely to be felt from the autumn.

“Whilst we welcome any steps taken by the minister to help stabilise the sector over the medium to long term, there remain a number of independent pig producers that require immediate and direct support,” Lizzie said.

“From November onwards, we estimate there will be around 15,000 uncontracted pigs per week on farm with no market, creating concerns of potentially serious welfare issues. We’re being contacted by producers with increasingly heavy pigs sat on farm.

“It is vital that ministers now look again at the measures proposed, including a Slaughter Incentive Scheme and Private Storage Aid, to ensure we do not have a repeat of the crisis we saw a few years ago with pigs backing up on farms.”

‘Too many pigs’

During the EFRA hearing, the committee’s chair Alistair Carmichael asked if the summit was ‘going to address the fact that there are going to be too many pigs on farm between now and Christmas’.

“They’re not going to have a contract. There’s going to be no way for them to get to market, so there’s going to be a backup of stock on farm, which can become an animal welfare issue. Is that something your summit is going to address?” Mr Carmichael asked.

Mr Morgan replied that he was keen to work with the industry to ‘drive growth in the sector’. “You’ll know, from your experience, that it tends to be boom and bust in the pig sector, and therefore, the summit is about market monitoring and forecasting, working with industry, and what the options are for the future,” he said.

Asked again about whether he was going to address the specific animal welfare concerns from a potential backlog, the minister added:

“Well, if I’m going to convene the industry, I’m keen to hear their views and concerns to see what government can do to build resilience and growth in the sector.”