May 31, 2010

Plummeting pork prices in Australia hurt pig farmers

Pork prices are decreasing drastically, hurting the profits of Australia's pig farmers.

Producers are getting paid about 90 cents a kilogram less for their pork than they were last year. There are fears the low prices could trigger another exodus of pig farmers from the industry.

Ean Pollard, from the NSW Farmers Association's pork committee, said a flood of imported pork is to blame. "We're nearing the cost of production once again. It's put a bit of pressure on us, that's for sure," he said.

"We're still getting more and more imports coming into Australia. In the last four years, that product has doubled. Now we get about 140,000 tonne of that product coming into Australia each year," he added.