Defra has removed the requirement for meat from pigs slaughtered during a Slaughter Incentive Payment Scheme (SIPS) 2022 shift to go for export or into the Private Storage Aid Scheme (PSA).
These changes apply to SIPS 2022 shifts worked on or after Friday 18th February. According to the reform, pigs slaughtered can now be sold on the domestic market for higher prices than for product going into PSA or for export.
Earlier this month, the National Pig Association (NPA), the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and pig producers were joined by representatives from major retailers and pork processors at an industry roundtable meeting at Defra’s headquarters. The meeting was chaired by Farming Minister Victoria Prentis.
The scheme reform introduced by Defra was one of the NPA’s ‘key asks’ at last week’s summit. NPA said that the previous restrictions on SIPs were “severely limiting uptake, with little incentive for processors to use it when they knew they could not sell pork on the domestic market.”
Defra said the change was made following discussions with industry. It said it has been “working closely with industry” to understand how best to support it in response to the challenges caused by the pandemic, access to CO2 supplies, a temporary shortage of labour (specifically skilled butchers) and the loss of the Chinese market to several processing plants because of the pandemic.
It continued: “This led to a growing number of pigs backing up on farm and impacted the capacity of processors to slaughter and process pigs. Pig prices have fallen and without continued intervention could rapidly fall very significantly further.”
“A much-needed boost”
NPA chairman Rob Mutimer said: “This is a much-needed boost to the pig industry. It should encourage processors to put on these extra kills and, in turn, speed up progress in reducing the backlog.
“We are grateful to Defra for listening to our arguments and taking this important step to help struggling pig producers.”
The revised SIPS 2022 increased the payment rate for eligible pigs from £3 to £10 per pig. Defra said it was aiming to incentivise processors to maximise the use of additional butchers from January by putting on more shifts than was possible at the end of 2021.
NPA said that it is anticipated that the scheme will close on 31st March, or earlier if the limit of 100,000 pigs slaughtered is reached with the claim window due to run from 1st to 29th April.
The scheme is open to clean pigs slaughtered and processed in England with a minimum deadweight of 25kg. Shifts must be additional to shifts already agreed with the Food Standards Agency (FSA), either on an additional day or with a distinct break between normal shifts.
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