November 17, 2010

Britain's pig output up 2% on-year but the lowest among EU

British pig production is still lagging behind, with the average sow producing 1,643 kg of pig meat in 2009, up 2% on-year but the lowest in the EU, latest figures from the British Pig Executive (Bpex) showed.

It is also well below the targets set by the Two-Tonne Sow campaign, which aims to bring British production in line with its competitors by 2013.

Bpex director Mick Sloyan said, "We are narrowing the gap but our competitors are not standing still so we must continue to seek improvements. The report highlights not only that we need to continue to improve performance at farm level but also the precise areas on which we need to focus. It is those areas which are the key to the Two-Tonne Sow campaign."

"Trying to drive improvements at a time when feed costs are so volatile is obviously a challenge but if we can improve our performance it will help to overcome the exposure to those volatile input costs," Sloyan said.

"Feed prices decreased following high quotations during the previous year and, as a result, this helped member countries control costs of production. At the same time, producer prices increased notably during 2009 which resulted in positive net margins for producers. However, recent increases in feed prices have turned these positive net margins back to negative," Bpex senior analyst James Park said.

In performance terms, the overall average number of pigs weaned per sow per year in the European InterPIG countries increased from 23.98 in 2008 to 24.32 in 2009 while the number of pigs weaned/sow/year in Great Britain, increased to 22.25.