The British banger could become a luxury item

Wrtiting in Farmers' Guardian, ha says that before the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak he would have expected these boars, which were in good condition, to fetch at least £60 a piece.

The value of these boars once in the food chain remains unchanged.
Is this the price pig farmers are expected to pay for this Government’s incompetence?

Pig farmers, who are unsubsidised, have received no compensation but are suffering one of the biggest hikes in feed prices in living memory. Feed, which accounts for up to 75 per cent of the cost of producing a finished pig, has risen by an average of £40 per tonne since the beginning of the year, adding around £15 to the cost of each animal produced.

Pig buyers and processors are now not buying enough pigs to fulfil their contracts. This means that these pigs remain on the farm longer than they should, eating more of this expensive feed.

When they do go for processing, many are then overweight and are downgraded, which means the returns to the pig farmer are even lower. The extra pork from these heavier pigs is itself helping to depress the market.

Unless action is taken quickly to improve returns, we’re likely to see a mass exodus of UK pig farmers and the effect on the economy will be ever-greater dependency on supplies from overseas, then increased food costs as supplies become shorter in Europe.

The traditional British banger, made from home-produced pork, could then become a luxury item.

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