At last the Irish pig market appears to have stabilised and reached the bottom of the market. Pig farmers are receiving €1.64c/kg – €1.66c/kg in all the main export plants this week. Most European pig markets also seem to have reached a position where pig farmers will no longer have to face the almost weekly scenario of price cuts.
Irish pig farmers have now taken a least a 32cent per kilo price reduction since the onset of Covid-19 in early March. This represents a cut of €26 per pig, and the reduction in value of cull sows has also been very significant. Throughput has been affected by Covis-19 in meat plants across Ireland since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, and pig factories seem to have been particularly affected. This may be due to the constant throughput and almost full capacity of the Irish pig processing sector to handle the weekly production of pigs.
IFA Pigs Chairman Tom Hogan said that he had contacted all pig processors and reported that he sent the message in very strong that the cuts have to stop. Pig farmers have taken enough pain and there is no justification for any further cuts.
