Irish pig prices fell 4c/kg on Friday last with farmers reporting quotes of €2.20 – €2.27 available from processors in ROI. The drop has put significant pressure and uncertainty on our Irish farmers as they have nowhere near come close to recovery from the massive losses which have accumulated on Irish farms from the period Aug ‘21 to May ‘23. An additional challenge is that the severe losses resulted in a significant backlog of essential capital repair/investment on pig farms. This work is essential if the sector is to maintain efficiencies and national herd size into the future.
The average European price for a grade E carcass pig for week 41 was €219.7/kg which is 7.5% higher than prices for the same week last year according to the Commission, however, it is back -1.8% on last week’s average price and -4% on last month’s prices.
The weekly throughput figures for ROI for week ending the 22nd of October was 65,432 of which 1,513 were sows.
On the domestic retail market, the latest figures show that the average price per kilo increased from €7.65 to €7.82 for all pork from September to October, while producer prices have fallen.
