The National Pig Association (NPA) has welcomed the move by Morrisons to increase the weekly contribution paid by its processor Woodheads by 30p to 180p/kg.
NPA reported that other processors were reportedly up 10-15p on Friday and this followed price hikes of 12-16p the previous week.
The Association said that most UK pig producers are facing costs of production in excess of the £2/kg mark, as the post-Ukraine wheat price spike pushes feed costs even higher.
To tackle the rising prices, the NPA has written to all the big retailers last week asking them to increase their pig price to at least £2/pig so producers can break even.
A good start
NPA chief executive Zoe Davies said the move by Morrisons was “welcome and a good start”. She added: "We appreciate its comment about moving closer to paying the cost of production but this must happen as soon as possible.
"The contribution price is only one element of the contract – many are made up of several elements including part SPP, part tribune price and part contribution price, so it isn’t clear yet what the impact will be on both the SPP or for producers supplying Morrisons.”
Davies went on to explain that Morrisons is the first retailer to make such a move since the NPA wrote to all the UK major retailers last week. The NPA expects the others to follow suit.
She said: "This is crucial if they wish to secure British pork going forwards as pig farmers are taking decisions on their future in the sector right now, having made losses for the 5th consecutive quarter and being unable to take any more input price rises without a supportive pig price.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
