September 4, 2012

UK's pig herd is shrinking as 10% of production is expected to be gone by Christmas, unless prices improve.

In July, when the cost of feed wheat increased by more than 25%, and soy increased by even more, some producers took an early decision that these high costs were unsustainable and started culling sows.

26,000 sows and boars were culled in England and Wales in July, an increase of 7,000 on a month earlier. These Defra figures tally exactly with the number of pigs that the National Pig Association (NPA) discovered to have left the industry in July. Current NPA intelligence indicates that when the August statistics are available, they will show an on-going upward trend in sow slaughtering.

The latest Pig Market Trends produced by AHDB Market Intelligence reports: UK slaughtering and production remain high in July and early August.

Sow cullings in July were up by a quarter on July 2011 as some producers destock due to high feed costs.