France's only pig exchange postponed trading for the second time in as many weeks after farmers and slaughterers failed to agree on a price to cover surging feed costs for hog breeders.

Bloomberg reports that trading at the Marche du Porc Breton in Plerin, France, was cancelled on Monday (27 September) and deferred until today (30 September), a spokeswoman for the exchange said. Prices at the exchange, where live pigs are traded twice a week, fell the most in almost two years on 23 September after trading was deferred three days earlier.

Wheat futures have jumped 69 per cent this year on NYSE Liffe in Paris, while corn has surged 52 per cent, raising the costs of feeding pigs.

Cedric Weber, an analyst at farm adviser Offre et Demande Agricole told Bloomberg: "The farmers are losing money. For two-and-a-half years, they've been losing money because of the low price of pork and the high price of cereals, and now prices of cereal and protein crops are going up again."

European Union pig producers face a "drastic2 situation due to rising costs and expensive regulation, farm association Copa-Cogeca said last week, asking the EU to take action.

Mr Weber added: "The French pork market has had only had about four months of profitability since 2007. The buyers again asked for a lower price. We're in a real conflict."