Call to ensure the future of Scottish pork

Published on Thursday 25 September 2008 23:29

PORK and bacon reared and processed north of the Border could soon be a rare delicacy, according to Quality Meat Scotland, the red meat promotional agency.

Specialist pig farmers, not just in Scotland, but throughout the UK, have been struggling to make a living for many years in the face of the highest welfare production standards in the European Union, possibly in the world. High feed costs, with protein shooting through the roof, have seen many previously profitable operations sell out.

At one time last year, most producers were losing in the region of 20p per kilo on every pork or bacon pig sold into the food chain as imports from Denmark and the Netherlands have tended to supplant the Scottish share of the market. Consumers, while, allegedly, paying consideration to welfare, have tended to buy on price alone. Producer returns have improved in recent months, but there are few signs of a revival in output.

The Scottish Government's provisional June census data made it clear in blunt terms that the national breeding herd has more than halved over the past decade to little more than 38,500 sows. Some farms in the US, Brazil, Mexico and eastern Europe have more on each unit.

Donald Biggar, the chairman of QMS, is acutely aware of the situation. He said: "We have been involved in a survey of the Scottish pig industry and it sends out a stark message.

"We need a bare minimum of 45,000 sows, if Scotland is to have any chance of retaining a meaningful pig industry.

"Five key areas have been addressed in our recent review: economics; processing facilities; health status; environment and farm performance. We absolutely have to get this vital sector of the farming industry back into profitability."

The bottom line is that if pig numbers continue to decline, arable farmers, who provide producers with grain, will suffer.

Richard Lochhead, the Cabinet secretary for rural affairs, who has many pig farmers in his constituency around Elgin, said: "We are aware of this very difficult situation. We are actively working with the industry, including the major new player Vion from Denmark (which recently acquired the Grampian Food Group], to decide how most effectively to use the mostly unallocated 700,000 package I announced last month."