Pig production in the UK after Brexit lost 10% of the breeding herd

Pig farmers in the UK fear ruin as a shortage of butchers delays slaughter.

The British pig industry has said it is in danger of collapse after an exodus of Eastern European workers led to a shortage of butchers and more than 170,000 pigs being slaughtered behind.

The National Pig Breeding Association and the National Farmers Union said the emergency visa measures meant to mitigate the effects of Brexit and COVID-19 are not working.

“The situation in pig farms is extremely dire, both in terms of lagging behind and from a financial point of view,” their joint letter to British Environment Secretary George Eustis said.

In October, the government offered six-month emergency visas to 800 foreign butchers, but only 105 seasonal workers are known to have arrived.

Trading authorities have warned that farms are losing money on every pig, and at least 30,000 sows have been lost in the last six months, about 10% of the English herd.

“We are already seeing a significant reduction in the size of the breeding herd and we fear that if nothing changes, we could see a mass exodus from this industry over the next 12 months. Once we lose this production base, we will not get it back,” the message says.

Tens of thousands of healthy pigs are being culled from farms by producers, and in the first week of 2022, some farmers reported that processors had taken as little as 50% of contract pigs.

The costs associated with record pig feed costs and falling prices mean farmers are losing about 25 pounds ($34 ) per pig over the course of almost a year.

The UK Pig Producers' Unions have urged the government to encourage retailers to launch marketing campaigns to increase sales of British pork, encouraging processors to close the gap.