Pig Kill Slumps By 26,000

IRELAND - More pigs being sent north of the border for higher prices is one of the reasons given for a year-on-year slump in numbers slaughtered at factories in the Republic.

For the week ending March 18, pigs slaughtered in licensed meat export premises south of the border fell to 42,190, and killings for the year to date were down 22,700 compared to last year.

For the week ending March 25, the year to date shortfall from 2005 was 25,913 pigs (18,467 when sows and boars are included).

It is estimated that up to 8,000 pigs a week are being sent to Northern Ireland, where the main processor, Grampian, has a throughput of some 17,000 a week.

IFA pigs committee chairman Pat O'Keeffe gave two main reasons for fewer pigs going to factories in the south. The main one is the volume of pigs going north for better prices, and the second one is that many producers are de-stocking, because they are finding that pig farming is no longer viable.

Source: The Irish Examiner
calendar icon 6 April 2006
clock icon 2 minute read
© 2000 - 2024 - Global Ag Media. All Rights Reserved | No part of this site may be reproduced without permission.