September 29, 2010

Australian pork prices to skyrocket during Christmas

Australian shoppers can expect to pay more for their pork as Christmas approaches, due to high grain prices and input costs experienced by pork producers.

The poor forecast for the 2009-10 grain harvest across much of the country in the next few months is also another factor.

Ron Penn, general manager of the Meat and Livestock Division with Craig Mostyn Group (CMG), said that just like egg and poultry farmers, pork producers relied on consistent availability of grain at reasonable prices.

Penn noted that most pork cuts had, for many years, represented better value than similar cuts of beef and lamb. However, that price gap needs to be narrowed now to more accurately reflect the inputs and the substantial infrastructure investments that Western Australian (WA) pork producers carried.

WA's only export licensed pork processor, Linley Valley at Wooroloo, has an annual throughput of 600,000 pigs and is accredited with AQIS, AUSMeat, HACCP, and NASAA.